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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Mind 

and 

The Body 



By 
A. L. Kip 



Ube "Rnicfeerbocfeer press 

IRew Korfe 

1005 









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LIBRARY ot SONSRESS 

Two Copies fteceivtK. 

AUS 24 1906 

_ Gopyrijpu fcj 

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Copyright, 1905 

BY 

A. L. KIP 




CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE BRAIN I 

THE BONES ....... 20 

THE NERVES AND THE MUSCLES .... 49 

THE HEART AND THE LUNGS .... 62 

THE DIAPHRAGM 82 

THE TRACHEA AND THE PHARYNX ... 87 

THE THYMUS GLAND AND THE THYROID BODY . 93 

THE EAR ........ IOI 

THE EYE 123 

THE NOSE 143 

THE CHEEKS AND CHIN 1 54 

THE LIPS, TEETH, MOUTH, AND TONGUE . . 1 58 

THE CESOPHAGUS AND THE STOMACH . . . 180 

THE INTESTINES 191 

THE LIVER, THE KIDNEYS, AND THE BLADDER . 206 

THE SPLEEN AND THE PANCREAS . . .225 

THE OMENTUM ....... 236 

THE PERITONEUM AND THE MESENTERY . . 240 
iii 



iv Contents 

PAGE 

THE BUTTOCKS 245 

THE GENITALS 249 

THE BREASTS 268 

THE SKIN 275 




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THE MIND AND THE BODY 



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THE MIND AND THE BODY 



THE BRAIN 

THE entire human body is separable into two 
distinct divisions, consisting of the brain as 
the interior, and the remainder of the body as the 
exterior, division. The brain is the organ of the 
mind, and contains every mental faculty of man ; 
while the various parts of the body are simply 
external manifestations and expressions of these 
faculties of the brain, adapted to execute the 
purposes of the mind in the outward world, to 
communicate with persons and things outside of 
itself, to be sustained by material substances just 
as the mind is nourished by immaterial food, and 
to play a part in the realm of nature similar to 
that which the brain plays in the realm of mind. 
The intimate connection between the brain and 
the body is evidenced by the nerves proceeding 
from the brain, which "form the members, vis- 
cera, and organs of the body," 1 which enable the 

» Swedenborg, Heavenly Arcana, 4325. 



2 The Mind and the Body 

brain to direct the bodily movements, and which 
convey to the brain sensations from without. 

While Swedenborg does not definitely state that 
all the parts of the body answer to the faculties 
contained in the brain, his remarks certainly im- 
ply such a relationship : 

"The head signifies wisdom, intelligence, and 
knowledge of truths, and in the contrary sense folly, 
insanity, and knowledge of falsities, because these 
have their seat in the head, and are there in their 
beginnings. This is clearly evident from the fact 
that the origins of all fibres are in the head, and from 
it they go forth to all the organs of sense and motion 
belonging to the face and the whole body ; and there, 
too, are substances in infinite number that look like 
little spheres and are called by anatomists the corti- 
cal and cineritious substances; and from these go 
forth small fibres, the first of which are indiscernible ; 
afterwards these are bundled together, and make up 
the medullary substance of the whole cerebrum, cere- 
bellum, and medulla oblongata. From this medul- 
lary substance discernible fibres extend, and these 
when conjoined are called nerves. By these the cere- 
brum, the cerebellum, and the spinal medulla form 
the entire body and each and all things pertaining to 
it ; and from this it comes that the whole and every 
part of the body is ruled by the brains. Hence it 
can be seen that the brains are the seat of the under- 
standing and the will, which are included in the one 
term 'mind,' and consequently of intelligence and 
wisdom, and that these are there in their first prin- 



The Brain 3 

ciples; also that the organs which are formed to 
receive sensations and to produce motions are deriva- 
tions therefrom, precisely like streams from their 
fountains, or derivatives from their principles, or 
composite things from their substances; and these 
derivations are such that the brains are everywhere 
present, almost as the sun is present by its light and 
heat in each and all things of the earth. From this 
it follows that the whole body, and each and every 
part of it, are forms that are under the observation, 
guidance, and control of the mind, which is in the 
brain ; thus these forms are so constructed in depend- 
ence upon it that any part in which the mind is not 
present, or to which it does not communicate its life, 
is no part of man's life. Hence it can be seen that 
when the mind is in its thought, which pertains to 
the understanding, and in its affection, which per- 
tains to the will, it has extension into every particu- 
lar of the whole body, and there by means of its 
forms it spreads itself out as the thoughts and affec- 
tions of the angels do into the societies of the whole 
heaven. The case is similar, because all things of the 
human body correspond to all things of heaven: 
wherefore the form of the whole heaven before the 
Lord is the human form." * 

The results of physiological investigations at 
the present day are also in favor of a close rela- 
tion between localized mental faculties in the 
brain and the organs and members of the body; 
for it is an established scientific fact that certain 
known areas of the brain preside over definite 

i Apocalypse Explained, 775. 



4 The Mind and the Body 

functions of the body, and physiologists have 
apportioned special tracts in the brain which 
govern through the nerves the organs of sight, 
smell, taste, hearing, and touch, as well as those 
which actuate the various muscles of the body. 
The present view regarding the localization and 
nature of the cerebral faculties is thus described 
in a general way : 

"Although there is still some difference of opinion 
among investigators as to the absolute limits of cer- 
tain localizable areas, it is settled beyond dispute that 
there are fixed areas presiding over motion, language, 
and sight, and a strong presumption in favor of the 
localization of the various forms of common sensa- 
tion, of most of the special senses, and of the higher 
intellectual faculties." * 

"Speaking in the most general way, and for the 
present omitting the accumulating evidence in favor 
of the direct representation of the various co-ordinated 
movements of the muscles of the body in ganglia 
situated in different parts of the cerebral cortex, it 
may be said that, the cerebral hemispheres are the 
organs by which are perceived those clear and more 
impressive sensations which can be retained, and 
regarding which we can judge; the cerebrum is the 
organ of the will, in so far at least as each act of the 
will requires a deliberate, however quick, determina- 
tion; it is the means of retaining impressions of 
sensible things, and reproducing them in subjective 

» H. 0. Gordinier, Anatomy of the Central Nervous System, 
p. 449- 



The Brain 5 

sensations and ideas; it is the medium of all the 
higher emotions and feelings, and of the faculties of 
judgment, understanding, memory, reflection, induc- 
tion, imagination, and the like." * 

If physiologists succeed in conclusively fixing 
the exact convolutions of the brain from which 
separate nerves ramify into distinct areas of the 
body, such localization will probably demon- 
strate the respective positions in the brain of the 
faculties answering to the bodily counterparts. 
No attempt will be made in these pages to de- 
termine by correspondential study the cerebral 
locality of the several mental facult'es, as it 
would be a very difficult task, and is unnecessary 
for our present purpose; but some general idea 
of the distribution of the faculties in the brain 
can be derived from the geographical arrange- 
ment of the countries of the globe, for these 
correspond to the brain, 2 although several of the 
faculties which appear in the body are appar- 
ently not represented upon our earth. Phrenolo- 
gists have endeavored to fix the exact location 
of the mental faculties by means of the influence 
of their development upon the conformation of 
the cranium : yet they have met with but partial 
success ; for while it seems likely that many of the 
phrenological faculties are correctl) placed, the 
nature of some of them is not clearly understood, 

» Kirke's Handbook of Physiology, pp. 633, 634. 
2 See Psychology of the Nations. 



6 The Mind and the Body 

other faculties are incompletely defined or left 
out altogether, and because only a part of the 
convolutions of the brain wherein the faculties 
reside lies directly under the visible surface of the 
skull, phrenologists have overlooked the faculties 
of the cerebellum, as well as those of other por- 
tions of the brain, which either are at the base of 
the skull and out of reach, or else are in the 
interior of the brain and do not touch the surface 
of the skull. 

The cerebrum and the cerebellum constitute 
the parts of the brain which contain the mental 
faculties. The subordinate cerebral organs and 
tissues serve in general to connect the different 
regions of the cerebrum and cerebellum, to assist 
them to perform their higher operations, and to 
aid in the direction and animation of the activities 
of the body. 

A very brief description will be given of the 
functions of several of these cerebral appendages, 
the same being based partly on physiological data 
and partly on correspondences. The largest of 
them are the basal ganglionic masses known as 
the optic thalami and the corpora striata. The 
function of the optic thalami, through which pass 
the nerves of sense, is to store up sense impres- 
sions, especially those of sight, and, after they 
have become familiar, to recognize them readily 
when repeated; thus they recognize the letters 
and familiar words in reading, so that the cere- 



The Brain 7 

brum may be free to attend to the meaning. 
The function of the corpora striata, through 
which pass the nerves of motion, is to learn, and 
then to direct, familiar motions of the body with- 
out the constant attention of the cerebrum ; they 
write the separate letters, strike the keys of the 
piano, and guide the brush in sketching, so that 
the brain is able to give heed to the sense of the 
writing, the feeling of the music, and the beauty 
of the painting. The intra- ventricular portion, 
or caudate nucleus, of the corpora striata seems 
to be concerned with more painstaking renditions, 
such as are characteristic of an artist or a fine 
musician; while the extra- ventricular portion, or 
lenticular nucleus, which is lodged in the white 
substance of the hemispheres, seems to operate in 
a more careless and perfunctory way. The func- 
tion of the corpora quadragemina is to direct the 
movements in walking and other locomotion, and 
this they do even when the mind pays no at- 
tention to the way ; the anterior pair look ahead, 
and the posterior pair watch the ground im- 
mediately around the feet. The pineal body, 
which lies in front of the corpora quadragemina, 
has the function of mind reading. It is larger in 
the child and the adult female than in the adult 
male, because women and children are less 
initiative than men, and are therefore more ac- 
customed to try to perceive the attitude of mind 
in others. In birds this body is associated with 



8 The Mind and the Body 

their homing instinct, and with them the faculty 
no doubt becomes the instinctive sensing of the 
location of an unseen place, which is only a more 
physical aspect of mind reading, which is the 
instinctive sensing of some unknown thing in 
another's mind. The functions of the corpora 
albicantia or mammillaria and the pituitary body, 
which are situated near one another, consist in 
animating the body. The pituitary body ani- 
mates it intellectually and outwardly, and the 
corpora albicantia animate it emotionally and 
inwardly. It is by means of these organs that 
orators and actors throw animation and passion 
into their gestures and tones. The fornix is a 
longitudinal commissure situated in the middle 
of the cerebrum, and has two posterior and two 
anterior pillars, the latter terminating in the 
corpora albicantia. The fornix is the seat of 
deep feeling, and causes the mental faculties to 
vibrate in unison with its emotion. Its deep, 
and even tragic, feeling is expressed by means of 
the corpora albicantia. The tuber cinereum is a 
thin sheet of gray matter lying in front of the 
corpora albicantia, and from its forward part the 
infundibulum, or the stalk of the pituitary body, 
projects downward and connects that body with 
the base of the brain. The tuber cinereum, which 
has a close relationship to the fornix and the corpora 
albicantia, is the seat of animated feeling. The 
infundibulum seems to correspond to the faculty 



The Brain 9 

of seizing on every fact and situation that affords 
scope for stress or feeling, the ventricular fluid 
conveyed through the infundibulum representing 
the literal facts or ideas, which are converted by 
the pituitary body into more or less animated and 
impassioned utterances. Such conversion of lit- 
eral facts into animated thoughts seems to be 
accomplished in the small posterior lobe of the 
pituitary body, which belongs to the brain; 
whereas the larger anterior lobe, which is de- 
veloped from the embryonic oral cavity, seems 
to have charge of the impassioned utterance. 
The tuber cinereum and the infundibulum are 
actively employed in extemporaneous speaking. 

The cerebrum is much the larger mass of the 
brain, and occupies all the upper part of the 
head, front and back; and the cerebellum, or 
little brain, lies under the cerebrum at the back 
of the head. The convolutions of the cerebrum 
contain the intellectual faculties, and the cere- 
bellum contains the emotional faculties of the 
mind. 1 Hence the cerebrum is the general ani- 
matory organ of the brain, the general conscious 
sensorium, and the centre for voluntary motion 
in the body; whereas the cerebellum is the 
general involuntary organ of the brain, and fur- 
nishes the subconscious elements which are 
characteristic of the feelings. 2 Therefore, when 

" Apocalypse Explained, 61, 316. 

2 The Brain, i., 104, ii., 683 ; Heavenly Arcana, 4325, 9683. 



io The Mind and the Body 

the cerebrum is removed in animals, they lose 
intelligence, volition, and conscious sensation, for 
these faculties reside in the cerebrum; whereas, 
when the cerebellum is removed, they execute 
their movements very clumsily, and are unable 
to co-ordinate them, for all unconscious ease and 
harmonious union of motions flow from the 
feelings, which have their seat in the cerebellum. 
Moreover, the cerebellum takes cognizance through 
appropriate nerves of everything that occurs in 
the body, and disposes itself in agreement there- 
with * ; and the knowledge so acquired of the 
actual condition of the muscles with regard to 
tension and contraction assists the cerebellum in 
uniting the muscular actions into harmonious 
combinations. 

The fluid contained in the ventricles of the 
brain seems to correspond to the literal facts upon 
which the mental operations are based, just as the 
brain in general is built around the central canal 
formed by the ventricles ; and this cerebral fluid 
is represented by the oceans and seas of our 
planet. Thus the fluid within the main portion 
of the third ventricle corresponds to the know- 
ledge of particular facts, which is represented on 
our earth by the Mediterranean Sea; and the 
fluid within the forward and downward projection 
of the third ventricle, known as the optic recess, 
corresponds to the knowledge of general facts 

1 The Brain, ii., 680, 681a; Animal Kingdom, i., 43. 



The Brain n 

drawn therefrom, which is represented by the 
Black Sea. The function of the septum lucidum, 
which encloses the separate fifth ventricle, seems 
to consist in the formation of mental images or 
ideas of outward objects; the fluid within it 
representing the knowledge of the literal images 
reported to the brain by the visual sense, which 
the septum holds clearly before it and formulates 
into mental ideas or representations. The fifth 
ventricle therefore represents the Caspian Sea of 
our earth, which, like this ventricle, does not 
connect with other seas. 

The whole brain is distinguished into two 
hemispheres. In the cerebrum these hemispheres 
are separate, and the left is intellectual, and the 
right emotional; but in the cerebellum the hemi- 
spheres are united by the vermiform process, and 
the left is emotional, and the right intellectual. 
It is perhaps in consequence of this difference 
that the fibres composing the superior cerebellar 
peduncles, which connect the cerebrum with the 
cerebellum, pass from one cerebral hemisphere to 
the opposite cerebellar hemisphere. This reverse 
arrangement of the hemispheres of cerebrum and 
cerebellum explains Swedenborg's apparently con- 
tradictory statements, that the left of the brain 
corresponds to emotional things and the right 
to intellectual things, 1 and that the left of the 
brain corresponds to intellectual things and the 

1 Spiritual Diary, 1023, 1027, 1666, 1667. 



12 The Mind and the Body 

right to emotional things ! ; for the former state- 
ment is true of the cerebellum, and the latter is 
true of the cerebrum. 

It is not certain whether every faculty of the 
mind occurs on both sides of the brain; but, judg- 
ing from the observations of physiologists, who 
have located each sensory tract on both sides of 
the head, and also from those of phrenologists, 
who give each faculty a double representation, it 
is probable that nearly every faculty, at least of 
the divided cerebrum, has an intellectual and an 
emotional side, which appear in the respective 
hemispheres of the brain. 

The great distinction between the brain and 
the rest of the body indicates that the brain of 
the Greatest Man of heaven is composed of the 
celestial angels, and that the body of the Greatest 
Man is made up of the spiritual and natural 
angels, — its internals of the spiritual, and its 
externals of the natural, angels. Moreover, as 
every earth in the universe corresponds to some 
faculty of the brain and some part of the human 
body, 2 they who are celestially regenerated in any 
planet will, as a rule, go after death to the faculty 
in the brain of the Greatest Man to which their 
earth interiorly corresponds, while they who are 
spiritually and naturally regenerated will after 
death become members of the organs and viscera 
of the body of the Greatest Man to which their 

« Heavenly Arcana, 4052. "> Idem, 7358. 



The Brain 13 

earths exteriorly correspond. Such a distribution 
of the angels in heaven assigns to them a definite 
position in the Greatest Man for which their pre- 
vious earthly career specially fits them ; and be- 
sides we are told that the celestial angels occupy 
the head, and the spiritual and natural angels 
the body, of the Greatest Man. 1 

The brain may be divided into three great 
sections, consisting of cerebellum, hinder cere- 
brum, and frontal cerebrum, which correspond in 
a general way to perceptive feeling, concrete 
mentality, and abstract mentality. The angels 
of the cerebellum in the Greatest Man are the 
celestial angels who are pre-eminently in love 
to the Lord, love to the neighbor, mercy, amia- 
bility, humor, good-nature, and the various other 
emotional and intellectual feelings. The angels 
of the hinder cerebrum are the celestial angels 
who have most strongly developed judgment, ob- 
servation, comparison, will, 2 inspiration, domina- 
tion, and the concrete intellectual faculties and 
thoughtful emotions generally. The angels of 
the frontal cerebrum are the celestial angels who 
preponderatingly possess the memory of the sub- 
jective and objective things of heaven, the ra- 
tional faculties, good-will, intuition, the outward 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 4938, 5328, 10,005 ; Heaven and Hell, 
29; True Christian Religion, 119, 608. 

2 The faculties of will and determination seem, however, to 
be common to both the anterior and the posterior cerebrum. 



14 The Mind and the Body 

perceptions, and in general abstract feeling, 
thought, and knowledge. 

Like the government of the body by the 
brain, the celestial angels of the cerebellum and 
the cerebrum control, direct, and animate the 
activities of all the lower angels; and their im- 
portant functions are admirably described by 
Worcester in his Physiological Correspondences. 1 

The middle brain, which lies between the cere- 
bellum and the cerebrum and unites them, no 
doubt helps these organs to operate in unison, and 
also conveys to and fro their different impulses 
and instructions. It seems to correspond to the 
love of combining into a comprehensive whole 
both the emotional and the intellectual aspects 
of a question. Swedenborg states that the planet 
Mars corresponds to this middle province of the 
brain, and thus describes the quality of Martian 
spirits, who, like the middle brain, are in thought 
from affection, and in the affection of thought. 

"I have been instructed that the spirits of Mars 
refer to something interior in man, and indeed to the 
middle region between what is intellectual and what 
is emotional, thus to thought from affection, and the 
best of them to the affection of thought. And because 
they have such a relation in the Greatest Man, that 
province which is between the cerebrum and the cere- 
bellum corresponds to them; for in them cerebrum 
and cerebellum are conjoined as to spiritual opera- 
« Pp. 424-432, 



The Brain 15 

tions. Their face makes one with their thought, so 
that from the face the very affection of thought 
shines forth, and from the affection, with some indica- 
tions also from the eyes, the general nature of the 
thought. Wherefore, when they were near me, I 
sensibly perceived a drawing back of the front part 
of the head toward the occiput, and thus of the cere- 
brum toward the cerebellum." * 

Almost every part of the cortex of one hemi- 
sphere of the cerebrum is connected with the 
answering part of the other hemisphere by nerve 
fibres, which, when compressed into a solid mass 
between the cerebral hemispheres, constitute 
what is known as the corpus callosum. The 
corpus callosum corresponds to the love of com- 
bining and expressing ideas of thought in terms 
that will include both the emotional and the 
intellectual way of looking at them. 

The brain is encompassed by three membranes, 
— the pia mater, the arachnoid, and the dura 
mater. These membranes correspond to the love 
of making general statements that will include 
as a whole the results of the mental operations. 
The pia mater, which is a delicate network of 
tissue in immediate relation to the surface of the 
brain, whose convolutions it closely follows, cor- 
responds to general statements made in an emo- 
tional way; the arachnoid, which lies between 

^Heavenly Arcana, 7480, 7481. 



16 The Mind and the Body 

the pia mater and the dura mater, and which 
facilitates the pulsations of the brain by a fluid 
it secretes, corresponds to general statements 
made in a thoughtful way; and the dense, 
fibrous dura mater, which is the most outward of 
the three membranes, and which affords a tough 
protective covering to the brain, corresponds to 
statements made in a knowing or matter-of-fact 
way. As a general rule, wherever things occur 
in the body in a series of three, the inmost cor- 
responds to feeling, the middle to thought, and 
the outmost to knowledge; or, with reference to 
discrete degrees, the series is respectively celestial, 
spiritual, and natural. 

Swedenborg mentions spirits of the other world 
who belong to the province of the pia mater, and 
says of them that they do not rely much on their 
own thought, but are open and receptive to the 
ideas of others ; and that they are therefore able 
to act as intermediates between different classes of 
angels, and to establish communication between 
them. He also says that the spirits who con- 
stitute the province of the dura mater were such 
in the life of the body that they could not pene- 
trate in their thought any farther than natural 
things, and the most interior of them had thought 
about spiritual and celestial things only from the 
objects of the senses. 1 While these descriptions 
evidently apply to some lower heaven, and not 

" Heavenly Arcana, 4046, 4047. 



The Brain 17 

to the Greatest Man as a whole, the statements 
agree in a general way with the correspondence 
of these membranes given above. 

The societies who constitute the pia mater in 
the Greatest Man are they who are open and re- 
ceptive to the emotional ideas of the angels of the 
inmost heaven, and who love to gather their 
feelings and perceptions on any subject, deli- 
cately adapting themselves to their deep and 
intricate turns of mind, just as the pia mater 
follows closely the furrows and fissures of the 
brain, which they then frame into general emo- 
tional statements. The heavenly societies who 
constitute the arachnoid membrane are they who 
love to gather the different thoughts of the 
celestial angels, and to formulate them into 
thoughtful statements, but who do not attend so 
much to the feelings, just as the arachnoid does 
not enter into the cerebral infoldings. The 
societies who constitute the dura mater are they 
who collect information from the celestial angels, 
and then weave the knowledge obtained from 
them into ' a compact and coherent statement. 
Hence these membranous societies, and especially 
the societies of the dura mater, serve to invest 
and to protect the celestial angels; for these 
societies are authoritative exponents of the feel- 
ing, thought, and knowledge of the entire celestial 
heaven. 

The sinuses of the brain are channels between 



1 8 The Mind and the Body 

layers of the dura mater, which receive the blood 
from veins coming from various parts of the 
brain, and empty it into the internal jugular 
vein. They seem to correspond to the rather 
dreamy condition of mind which succeeds mental 
exertion, but which is not a state of complete rest. 
It is Swedenborg's theory that the function of 
these sinuses is chiefly to draw off from the brain 
the gross and sluggish blood, and to refresh and 
vivify such effete blood by mingling with it the 
spiritous fluid conveyed to appropriate sinuses 
from the pituitary body 1 ; and it is true that the 
mind is refreshed by such states of dreamy, but 
wakeful, tranquillity. Swedenborg speaks of a 
certain spirit who was in a state of tranquillity, 
like a kind of peaceful sleep, and who yet asked 
questions with as much prudence as a person 
fully awake ; and he states that he was told that 
such spirits have reference to the sinuses of the 
brain, and are in a state of peace, no matter 
how the surrounding societies may be actively 
agitated. 2 

The membranes or meninges of the brain may 
be represented in the Greatest Man of the universe 
by the planet Neptune; for as the great con- 
joining cerebral medium constituted by the 
middle brain is represented by the planet Mars, 
it is possible that the most outward covering and 
communicating medium of the entire brain is 

1 The Brain, i., 330-335, 593. * Heavenly Arcana, 4048. 



The Brain 19 

represented by the most outward planet of our 
system, which is the planet Neptune. 

The angelic societies composing the subordinate 
cerebral organs perform uses in the Greatest Man 
similar to those which these appendages perform 
in the individual. 

The societies of the ventricles of heaven are the 
angels who delight in the acquisition of literal 
abstract and concrete truths, particular and 
general facts, and subjective ideas of outward 
objects, and who impart their literal learning to 
the cerebral angels to serve as a basis for their 
thoughtful reflections and formulated knowledge. 
Swedenborg says that spirits who had reference 
to the ventricles and infundibulum of the brain 
were eager to come into the cerebral societies of 
heaven, just as the better lymph returns into the 
brain ; and that such spirits apply themselves to 
those whom they see, attend to every particular, 
and tell others what they hear, restlessly going 
about hither and thither in imitation of the 
lymph that is in the infundibulum and is con- 
veyed to and fro. 1 

» Heavenly Arcana, 4047, 4050. 




THE BONES 

THE bones form the solid framework of the 
body, support its softer tissues, protect its 
delicate organs, and serve as levers by means of 
which the muscles produce movements. While the 
bones lack the finer organization and more active 
life of other parts, their firmness and hardness 
render them the ultimate foundations of the 
body, and hence they represent the ultimate 
faculties of the mind, upon which the higher 
faculties rest as on a base. 1 The bones offer the 
greatest resistance to forces from without, and 
therefore the mental faculties which they repre- 
sent are such as tend to give individuality to the 
mind. In fact, the bones largely constitute what 
Swedenborg calls man's proprium. 2 The follow- 
ing is a very general statement of the correspond- 
ence of the bones : 

"The societies of spirits to whom the cartilages and 
bones correspond are very numerous. But their 
nature is such that they possess very little spiritual 
life, just as the bones have very little life as com- 

« Heavenly Arcana, 8005, 9163. * Idem, 149, 156. 

20 



The Bones 21 

pared with the soft tissues which surround them, as, 
for instance, the cranium and the bones of the head 
have, as compared with both brains, the medulla 
oblongata, and the sensitive substances therein, and 
also as the vertebrae and ribs have as compared with 
the heart and lungs, and so on. It has been shown 
to me how little spiritual life there is in those who 
have reference to the bones. Other spirits speak by 
means of them, and they themselves scarcely know 
what they say; yet they speak, placing delight in 
that alone. Into such a state are they reduced who 
had led an evil life, and yet had some remains of good 
stored up in them. These remains constitute that 
little spiritual life after the vastations of several ages. 
They who emerge from vastations and serve for the 
uses which the bones perform have no definite thought, 
but a general thought almost indefinite. They are 
like those who are distraught, as if not in the body. 
They are sluggish, dull, stupid, and slow in every- 
thing; nevertheless they are at times not intranquil, 
because cares do not penetrate, but are dispelled in 
their general obscurity." 1 

The cartilages are closely related to the bones ; 
for most of the bones begin as cartilage, and are 
tipped with cartilage at the joints. The car- 
tilages are less hard and more elastic than the 
bones, and therefore correspond to similar facul- 
ties which possess less fixity and more adaptability . 
Cartilage becomes bone by the deposit of earthy 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 5560-5562. 



22 The Mind and the Body 

materials, which correspond to the facts of in- 
dividual thought and experience. 

The bones of the skull are divisible into cranial 
and facial bones. 

The cranial bones, which surround the brain, are 
the frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, sphenoid, 
and ethmoid bones. The frontal bone forms the 
whole of the forehead, and also the roofs of 
the eye orbits; it corresponds to the knowledge 
that man can know like God. The two parietal 
bones occupy the middle region of the roof of 
the cranium; they correspond to the knowledge 
that man can think like God. The occipital 
bone composes the lower part of the back of 
the cranium, and also extends along the base; 
it corresponds to the knowledge that man can 
feel like God. The basilar part of this bone 
seems to correspond to the faculty of putting 
lower creatures underneath, where they belong. 
The two temporal bones lie at the sides of the 
skull below the parietal bones; they correspond 
to the desire to master and subdue lower beings. 
The sphenoid bone occupies the base of the 
skull in front of the occipital bone, and also sends 
up a wing to each side of the skull ; it corresponds 
to the knowledge of the right to rule those who 
are inferior. The ethmoid bone is in front of the 
basilar part of the sphenoid ; it corresponds to 
vigilant watchfulness. 

The facial bones are the nasal, inferior turbinate, 



The Bones 23 

lachrymal, maxillary, vomer, malar, palatal, and 
hyoid bones. The nasal bone forms the roof of 
the nose; it corresponds to the perception and 
knowledge of inward character. The inferior 
turbinate bone is attached above to the wall of 
the nose, and projects into the nasal cavity; it 
corresponds to the perception and knowledge of 
interior or psychological states of mind. The 
lachrymal bone is a thin scale of bone occupy- 
ing the inner side of the eye orbits; it corres- 
ponds to a sorrowful state of mind caused by 
the contemplation of the sad things of human 
life. The maxillary or jaw bones, together with 
the remaining facial bones, 1 correspond to the 
love of dominating, the upper jaw being the love 
of dominating in general, and the lower jaw of 
dominating in particular. 

The difference in the significance of the tem- 
poral and the maxillary bones is that the tem- 
poral bones are a love of being recognized and 
obeyed as master ; while the maxillary bones are 
a love of impressing the currents of one's own life 
upon others, and not being influenced by their 
individuality. 

The firm knowledge that man can feel, think, 
and know in imitation of God, the stern powers 

1 The vomer corresponds to unwillingness to be dominated 
by others; the malar or cheek bone, to determination not to 
be dominated; the palate bone, to the endeavor mentally 
to get over others; and the hyoid bone, to insistence on 
others doing just as they are told. 



24 The Mind and the Body 

of mastery, domination, and vigilance, the lofty 
contemplation of the pathetic side of human life, 
and the keen perception of inward character and 
states of mind are admirably adapted to fulfil 
the uses of the bones of the head ; for these 
faculties are the highest of the ultimate faculties 
of the mind, and occupy an elevated and com- 
manding place among them, which is similar to 
the position of the skull at the top of the skeleton. 

The correspondence of the frontal, parietal, 
and occipital bones affords an explanation of the 
fact that they who have confirmed themselves 
against the existence of God, and in favor of 
Nature, have black skulls which look as if made 
of ebony, and which are impervious to the rays 
of heavenly light l ; for in such persons the clear 
truth that man is made in the image and likeness 
of a living God becomes the dark falsity that he 
is a product of the mechanical forces of an im- 
personal Nature. Hence it was fitting that the 
Jews should crucify the Lord at Golgotha, the 
Place of a Skull; for they denied Him as their 
God, and sought to crush out forever both Him 
and His teachings. 

The mental faculties answering to several of 
these bones do not seem to be represented in the 
Greatest Man of our planet; but the sphenoid 
bone is represented by Bornu, the nasal bone is 
represented by the Pamirs, the inferior turbinate 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 5563; Heaven and Hell, 354. 



The Bones 25 

bone is represented by Kashmir, and the max- 
illary and related bones are represented by 
Guinea. Others of them may also be represented 
upon our earth ; for our knowledge of geographical 
correspondences is far from being complete. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven the societies 
who constitute the provinces of the frontal, 
parietal, and occipital bones are they who are in 
the knowledge that the celestial angels alone are 
truly man, and are of all the angels most nearly 
fashioned in God's image. The societies who 
constitute the sphenoid bone are they who are 
conscious of their kingly power and right to rule 
over the evil and all lower beings, which they 
possess in consequence of higher spiritual develop- 
ment ; for it is a universal law that the higher rules 
the lower. The societies who compose the tem- 
poral bones are they who exert a powerful control 
over all lower persons, forcing them to recognize 
their mastery and to obey their directions. The 
societies of the ethmoid bone are the watchmen 
of heaven, whose duty it is to take cognizance of 
what is occurring in every direction, and to warn 
the other societies of the hostile or surreptitious 
approach and wicked designs of evil spirits. 
Hence these societies, like the bones of the 
cranium, form a solid wall of defence and pro- 
tection for the celestial heaven; and by their 
knowledge of the exalted nature of the celestial 
angels and the importance of their work, by 



26 The Mind and the Body 

their vigilant watchfulness, and by their master- 
ful control and power of rule, they ward off all 
injurious intrusion, and enable the celestial angels 
to perform their duties peacefully and without 
molestation. 

The societies of the nasal and inferior turbinate 
bones are the angels who possess a deep percep- 
tion of the inward character of others, and their 
psychological states of mind. Hence these angels 
are closely associated with the societies of the 
nose, who are endowed with a very accurate per- 
ception of the inward quality of spirits. The so- 
cieties of the lacrymal bone are the contemplative 
angels who are able to penetrate below the mere 
surface of human affairs, and to see the sad and 
affecting things in the lives of others. The so- 
cieties of the other facial bones are the dominating 
angels who assist in guarding the approaches to 
the inmost heaven, and who force all who come 
toward them to receive the flow of life as it exists 
in heaven. 

The bones of the trunk of the body are the 
vertebral column, the ribs, the sternum, the 
clavicle, the scapula, and the pelvis. 

The seven cervical vertebrae of the backbone 
correspond to the faculty of making the best 
of disagreeable things and the faculty of scorn; 
the twelve thoracic vertebras correspond to the 
faculties of superiority and sarcasm; the five 
lumbar vertebrae correspond to the faculty of 



The Bones 27 

indifference; the sacrum, formed by the union 
of five vertebras, corresponds to the faculty of 
contempt; and the coccyx, which is composed of 
four small vertebras, corresponds to the faculty 
of having nothing to do with persons for whom 
indifference or contempt is felt. The vertebral 
column supports the head, surrounds and pro- 
tects the spinal cord, and together with the ribs 
serves to hold in place the various viscera of the 
trunk; and in correspondence with these uses, 
the faculties of making the best of disagreeable 
things, scorn, superiority, sarcasm, indifference, 
and contempt uphold the interior life of a man, 
make a firm protective medium for the working 
out of his purposes among others, and form an 
unyielding backing for his various mental opera- 
tions. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the vertebral 
column is represented by Colombia, Ecuador, 
Peru, Bolivia, Argentine Republic, and Chile. 
One of the most striking of geographical cor- 
respondences is presented by the Andes Range, 
which runs through these countries and probably 
constitutes most of their territory that belongs 
to the vertebral column ; for the configuration of 
the Andes is very similar to the shape of the 
human backbone, Tierra del Fuego imaging the 
coccyx at the lower end. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the angels of 
the backbone perform the functions of supporting 



28 The Mind and the Body 

the celestial heaven, of forming an encompassing 
wall for the societies who receive and convey im- 
pulses and messages between the inward and 
the outward heavens, and of furnishing to the more 
active and sensitive angels of the other parts of 
the trunk a strong backing for their opinions and 
actions. 

The ribs correspond to the love of using one's 
own intelligence in thinking about subjects. 
There are twelve pairs of ribs. The seven upper 
or sternal ribs are connected by cartilage with the 
sternum, and correspond to various kinds of self- 
intelligent thinking. The eighth, ninth, and 
tenth ribs are attached in front by cartilaginous 
prolongations to the seventh rib; and they cor- 
respond to the love of thinking about or ex- 
pressing ideas in one's own language. The 
eleventh and twelfth ribs terminate in free ends 
in the muscular walls of the abdomen ; they seem 
to correspond to insistence on the use of one's 
own intelligence. 

The heart and lungs correspond to the faculty 
of inspiration, and the ribs constitute the chief 
protection of these vital organs; and corre- 
spondentially the exercise of one's own intelli- 
gence in thinking forms an outward protective 
covering for the more interior thoughts and feel- 
ings which are received through inspiration from 
the other world. 

In consequence of this signification of the 



The Bones 29 

ribs, the tortoise, which corresponds to the love 
of confirming one's self in ideas by the light of 
one's own intelligence, has a remarkable de- 
velopment of the bones of the chest, which com- 
pose the hard shell of the creature. 

In the Word, ribs correspond to the love of 
thinking from one's own intelligence; and the 
statement that Eve was created from a rib taken 
out of Adam means that by marriage the hus- 
band's love of his own intelligence is transferred 
to the wife, and becomes in her a love of the man's 
proper wisdom : 

"From these considerations it is manifest that the 
woman was created out of the man by the transcrip- 
tion of his own peculiar wisdom — that is, she was 
created out of natural truth; and that the love of 
this was transferred from the man into the woman, 
in order that it might become conjugial love; and 
that this was done in order that in the man there 
might not be the love of self, but the love of his wife. 
For the wife, by reason of her innate disposition, can- 
not do otherwise than convert the love of self with 
the man into his love for herself; and I have been 
informed that this is effected by virtue of the wife's 
love itself, neither the man nor the wife being con- 
scious of it. Hence it is that no one can ever love 
his married partner conjugially who is in the conceit 
of his own intelligence from the love of self." 1 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies 

1 Marriage Love, 193. 



3o The Mind and the Body 

who constitute the ribs are they who are not 
willing to receive their ideas through inspiration 
alone, but who insist on using their own intelli- 
gence in thinking about what is presented to 
them ; and hence these societies form an ultimate 
plane and protection for the angels of the heart 
and lungs, who love to receive all their thoughts 
and feelings through inspiration from the inmost 
heaven or from the Lord. 

The function of the ribs in the body is con- 
tinued by the sternum or breast-bone, which 
corresponds to the love of establishing truth upon 
a firm foundation, so that there may be no doubt 
as to its correctness; and by the ensiform pro- 
cess, a cartilage at the base of the sternum, 
which corresponds to the faculty of putting aside 
all prejudice and prepossession in pursuit of the 
truth. 

The sternum resembles in shape an ancient 
sword. It consists in adults of two pieces: the 
upper piece, or handle, is called the manubrium ; 
and the lower piece, representing the blade, is 
called the gladiolus. The ensiform process at- 
tached to the sternum is like the point of the 
sword. Seven of the ribs are directly connected 
with the sternum ; for the effort to establish the 
unquestionable validity of a proposition requires 
the co-operative exercise of one's own intelligence. 

In the Greatest Man of the universe, the 
sternum is represented by our planet. Sweden- 



The Bones 31 

borg states that our earth is in externals and 
ultimates, and that many of its inhabitants are 
like the societies who compose the skin in the 
Greatest Man of heaven 1 ; and Worcester seems 
to imply, by his amplification of this comparison, 
that our planet corresponds to the skin. 2 But 
Swedenborg states elsewhere that the angels who 
come from our earth possess superior wisdom 3 ; 
and the mere capacity to receive and compare 
tactual impressions, which is the office of the 
skin, would not render our angels very wise. 
Again, Swedenborg says that our moon corre- 
sponds to the ensif orm cartilage of the sternum 4 ; 
and the close astronomical relation between the 
moon and this earth makes it very apparent that, 
if the moon represents the ensif orm process, our 
earth must represent the sternum, for this pro- 
cess is' united to the sternum. 

The superior wisdom of our angels, as well as 
their externalism, can easily be explained by this 
theory; for, prone as the human mind is to all 
kinds of misapprehensions and fallacies, the 
faculty of using the reason, the judgment, and 
the testimony of the senses to prove or disprove 
beyond question any given statement, would 
necessarily tend to produce a high degree of 

« Heavenly Arcana, 8630, 9360; Spiritual Diary, 1741; 
Heavenly Arcana, 5554. 

2 Physiological Correspondences, pp. 239, 240. 

3 Heavenly Arcana, 1531, 6929. 

4 Idem, 9236. 



32 The Mind and the Body 

wisdom, as it eliminates many avenues of error, 
and, so far as is possible for the finite mind, 
establishes the unassailable truth by accumulat- 
ing a mass of conclusive data for its corroboration. 
It is evident that such a habit of thought is very 
characteristic of the scientific, philosophic, and 
historical mentality of our race; and it was 
probably the desire to test and establish, by 
personal and sensuous experience, the accuracy 
of their heavenly teachings, that caused the 
original fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. 

The manubrium, or handle, of the sternum 
represents the continents of North and South 
America, and the four sections into which the 
gladiolus is divided at birth represent the con- 
tinental divisions of Africa, Europe, Asia, and 
Australasia. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the angels of 
the sternum are the spiritual and natural angels 
who have come from our earth, and who, more 
than all the others, are in the love of placing 
truth upon a firm and enduring basis through 
confirming it by the arguments of reason, judg- 
ment, and common sense, by the scientific 
evidence of the senses, and by comparison with 
the teachings of Divine revelation. The celestial 
angels from our earth constitute the same faculty 
in the lobes of the cerebrum of the Greatest Man. 

The clavicle or collar-bone and the scapula or 
shoulder-blade comprise the shoulder girdle, which 



The Bones 33 

forms a connecting link between the bones of the 
trunk and those of the upper limbs. The clavicle 
corresponds to the love of thinking out difficult 
problems, and the scapula corresponds to defi- 
niteness of aim; and just as these bones fortify 
the body's shoulders and back for bearing phys- 
ical burdens, so the faculties of thinking out hard 
problems and of concentrating the energies on 
a definite purpose strengthen the mind for the 
weight of prolonged mental exertion. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the clavicle, 
like the ribs and sternum, does not seem to have 
any representation; but the scapula is repre- 
sented by Poland. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the clavicle are they who like to spend their time 
in the thoughtful solution of all kinds of difficult 
questions; and the societies of the scapula are 
they who are never willing to undertake any 
project or study without first having a clear idea 
of what is to be accomplished, and who then 
steadily adhere to their aim in spite of other 
distracting issues. Hence these societies assist 
and strengthen the operations of the angels of the 
ribs and sternum, and also serve as a connecting 
medium between these angels and those com- 
posing the upper limbs. 

The pelvis or hip-bone consists of three united 
bones called the ilium, the ischium, and the os 
pubis. The ilium is the upper and largest part. 



34 The Mind and the Body 

and forms the prominence of the hip; it cor- 
responds to the love of doing no work whatever. 
The ischium is the lower and strongest part, and 
corresponds to the love of doing only such work 
as is necessary. The os pubis occupies the front 
of the pelvis, and supports the external organs 
of generation; it corresponds to the love of rest- 
ing so as to enjoy sexual intercourse. These 
large, massive bones act as a restful foundation 
for the body when sitting, and as a protection for 
the abdominal viscera; and their function is to 
bring rest and recreation to the whole body. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the pelvis is 
represented by the Saharan and Libyan deserts. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, such faculties 
as the love of doing no work or only so much 
work as is necessary may seem out of place, since 
heaven is a kingdom of uses ; but even the angels 
cannot work all the time, and the influence of 
those whose chief joy is to recreate and feel well 
and do as little as possible is needed by the active 
angels to lead them to take beneficial repose from 
toil and exertion. 

The bones of the upper limbs comprise the 
humerus, the ulna, the radius, the carpus, the 
metacarpus, and the phalanges of the fingers; 
and the bones of the lower limbs consist of the 
femur, the patella, the tibia, the fibula, the tarsus, 
the metatarsus, and the phalanges of the toes. 

The humerus and femur correspond to the 



The Bones 35 

faculty of gathering and formulating concrete and 
scientific knowledge. The humerus is the bone 
of the upper arm, and corresponds to a love of 
gathering concrete knowledge both general and 
particular, which likes to enter more or less 
deeply into a subject; while the femur, or thigh 
bone, corresponds to a love of gathering con- 
densed but accurate concrete knowledge about a 
subject, which does not care to enter deeply into it. 

The humerus and the femur are two of the most 
powerful bones in the skeleton, in fact the femur 
is the largest and strongest of all the bones ; and 
similarly as these two bones form the beginnings 
of the bony extremities of the body, so concrete 
knowledge constitutes the first going forth of the 
intellectual mind into externals, and hence into 
its powers. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the humerus 
is represented by southern Russia, and the femur 
by northern Russia and Finland. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the humerus are the angels who love to gather 
and to formulate all kinds of concrete and scien- 
tific knowledge, some of them preferring to get 
only general knowledge about a question, while 
others are fond of collecting every possible detail 
about the subject in which they are interested; 
and the societies of the femur are the angels who, 
although careful that their knowledge shall be 
accurate and reliable, do not seek for deep or 



36 The Mind and the Body 

detailed knowledge, but are satisfied with such 
brief information as can be gained in a cursory- 
way and without profound mental application. 
The latter societies must be very numerous in 
consequence of the size of this bone. 

The ulna and radius constitute the bones of 
the forearm, and the tibia, fibula, and patella 
compose the bones of the leg. The ulna, radius, 
and tibia correspond to the faculty of gathering 
and formulating abstract and philosophical knowl- 
edge. The ulna, the inner bone of the forearm, 
corresponds to an emotional love of abstract 
knowledge; the radius, the outer bone of the 
forearm, corresponds to a thoughtful love of 
abstract knowledge; and the tibia, the inner 
bone of the leg, corresponds to a matter-of-fact 
love of abstract knowledge. The fibula, which 
is a very slender bone on the outer side of the 
tibia, corresponds to the faculty of reflecting as 
to the exact meaning of words and statements. 

The bones of the upper arm and thigh repre- 
sent the faculty of gathering concrete knowledge, 
because they are nearer to the body, and hence 
have more feeling adjoined to them; while the 
bones of the forearm and leg represent the 
faculty of gathering abstract knowledge, because 
they are more remote from the body, and hence 
are more purely intellectual in their nature. 
Again, the bones of the arms are more emotional 
and interior than the bones of the legs. 



The Bones 37 

It is the above bones of the arms and legs that 
are referred to in the following statement : 

"They correspond to bones, in the other life, who 
have studied various sciences and have made no use 
of them, as they who have studied mathematics only 
to find the rules, and have not regarded any use ; or 
physics and chemistry only for the sake of experi- 
ment, and for no other use; also philosophy to find 
its rules and terms, only for the sake of the terms and 
for no other use; and likewise other things. They 
who become bones also, when they argue, scarcely 
discuss anything else than whether a thing is so or 
not. Hence it is evident that the majority of the 
learned within the church become bones." * 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the ulna is 
represented by Tibet, the radius by Mongolia, the 
tibia by Siberia, and the fibula by Turkestan. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the ulna, radius, and tibia are the angels who, 
from the pure love of knowing, like to gather and 
to formulate all kinds of abstract and philo- 
sophical knowledge, the ulna societies loving to 
pore over and become completely absorbed in 
such knowledge, the radius societies giving a 
thoughtful but less profound attention to it, and 
the tibia societies simply gathering abstract 
knowledge as facts, without going deeply into 
philosophical researches. The societies of the 

» Spiritual Diary, 5 141. 



38 The Mind and the Body 

fibula are the angels who delight to ponder on the 
meaning of words and statements, and carefully 
to discriminate between terms, in order both to 
understand another's meaning correctly and to 
express their own ideas in unmistakable language. 

The patella, or knee-cap, is a flat, triangular 
bone placed in front of the knee; it corresponds 
to the faculty of reason. The retinacula or 
lateral ligaments of the patella seem to correspond 
to the faculty of rational perception; and the 
ligamentum patellae, in which the patella is de- 
veloped and which arises from the lower part 
of the patella, seems to correspond to the faculty 
of rational inference. 

This location of the patella makes clear Sweden- 
borg's statement that the rational faculty is mid- 
way between the spiritual and the natural mind, 
and affords communication between them l ; for 
the patella lies between the femur and the tibia, 
and the leg above the knee relates to the spiritual 
mind, and the leg below the knee to the natural 
mind. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the patella is 
represented by northern Mesopotamia; while 
Armenia and southern Mesopotamia represent 
the retinacula and ligamentum patellae. 

In the Greatest Man of the universe, the 
patella is represented by the planet Saturn; for 
we are told that the spirits of Saturn relate to 

« Apocalypse Explained, 995. 



The Bones 39 

the reason, and that they appear in the other 
world in the plane of the knees. 1 Moreover, in 
the arrangement of cerebral faculties portrayed 
by the geographical divisions of this earth, 
Mesopotamia as the reason lies between Persia 
as the imagination and Arabia as the fancy ; and 
the planet Saturn is situated between the planets 
Jupiter and Uranus. Jupiter corresponds to the 
imagination; 2 and, reasoning by analogy, it is 
a legitimate inference that Uranus corresponds 
to the fancy. The belts of Saturn seem to 
correspond to the faculty of perception, and its 
moons to the faculty of inference. 

The carpus, the metacarpus, and the phalanges 
comprise the bones of the wrist, the hand, and 
the fingers. 

The carpus, or wrist bones, are eight in num- 
ber, and are arranged in two rows, four adjoining 
the ulna and radius, and four adjoining the bones 
of the hand. The bones of the carpus correspond 
to the faculty of intuition, because intuitive per- 
ceptions have no firm, substantial strength from 
being based on outward facts, but owing to their 
speculative and subjective nature are easily 
swayed hither and thither, just as the wrist can 
be bent in almost any direction. 

The extreme flexibility of the wrist shows how 
unstable and fluctuating are the conclusions of 

» Spiritual Diary, 1516, 3328; Heavenly Arcana, 8947. 
a Heavenly Arcana, 8630. 



40 The Mind and the Body 

this faculty, which are founded neither on reason 
nor on the evidence of the senses, but on purely 
subjective perceptions. The wrist bones connect 
with the bones of the forearm, because the 
faculty of intuition is often exercised to frame 
systems of philosophy or to determine the truth 
of philosophical statements. 

The bones of the wrist are especially interesting 
now, as they and the ankle bones constitute the 
stage through which the world has just passed 
in its development from externals to internals 
that began about 1300 a.d.; for the historical 
development of the race has been like the growth 
of a human body, beginning at the head and 
terminating at the hands and feet, and then re- 
tracing its course back to the head again. Hence 
the uprising of false prophets and pretenders to 
supernatural powers, so familiar in our times, 
is easily accounted for as the product of the in- 
tuitive wrist phase of the world's progress; for 
the reception of supernatural intuitions and the 
intuitive belief in the miraculous are prominent 
features of the faculty of intuition. Moreover, 
it is almost certain that these intuitional mani- 
festations will subside in a few years, and be 
superseded by an intellectuality characterized by 
fondness for abstract and philosophical knowl- 
edge and for reflection on the meaning of philo- 
sophical statements. Such abstract intellectuality 
is represented by the bones of the forearm and 



The Bones 4 1 

leg, and the race in its symbolic development is 
already beginning to form the forearms and legs 
of the historical human organism. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the carpus is 
represented by India. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the carpus are the angels who delight to employ 
intuition in dealing with all questions theoretical 
or practical, who always judge by what seems to 
be true or right or good, who are prone to believe 
in miracles and prophecies and visions, who are 
open to the reception of lofty intuitions from a 
higher sphere than their own, and who by sublime 
religious exaltation reach up intuitively to the 
Divine itself. 

The metacarpus comprises the bones of the 
hand proper. There are five of them, four con- 
necting with the fingers, and one with the thumb. 
The metacarpus corresponds to the inward 
memory. The first metacarpal bone, belonging to 
the thumb, corresponds to the memory of inward 
things learned by study, and the remaining 
metacarpal bones correspond to the memory of 
inward things learned by giving attention. 

The metacarpal bones seem to represent merely 
the bare facts of inward memory, and the muscles 
surrounding them seem to represent the more 
active functions of accumulating and making use 
of these facts. 

Closely connected with the bones of the hand 



42 The Mind and the Body 

in significance are the lines in the palm of the 
hand, and so much rubbish has been taught as 
palmistry that the correspondences of the prin- 
cipal lines of the palm will be briefly stated. 

The right hand corresponds to what is done 
emotionally, instinctively, and easily; and the 
left hand, to what is done with more or less con- 
scious thought and intellectual effort. The lines 
of the palm correspond to the faculty of recalling 
the things of inward memory. There are three 
large lines in the palm. The top line nearest the 
fingers (tinea mensalis) corresponds to recalling 
inward knowledge in a matter-of-fact way; the 
middle line {tinea cephalica), to recalling in a 
thoughtful way; and the bottom line, curving 
around the palmar eminence at the base of the 
thumb, to recalling in an emotional way. The 
above lines all refer to recalling what has been 
learned by merely giving attention to subjects of 
interest; but there is another set of lines, both 
horizontal and perpendicular, which occur on the 
eminence of the palm below the thumb, and these 
correspond to recalling what has been learned by 
study with more or less effort to fix in the memory. 
The horizontal lines correspond to an intellectual 
recalling of what has been studied or memorized ; 
and the perpendicular lines, to an emotional re- 
calling of what has been studied or memorized. 
The lines on the edge of the hand between the 
base of the little finger and the linea mensalis 



The Bones 43 

correspond to recalling and carrying out in- 
structions. The first set of lines on the hand's 
edge below the linea mensalis correspond to the 
faculty of recalling names ; the second set, to the 
faculty of recalling the past ; and the third set, 
to the faculty of reminiscing. The deep lines on 
the wrist correspond to recalling by intuition or 
guessing. 

There are also other lines in the palm, and even 
the sets of lines above enumerated intermingle 
in an intricate way ; so that, as every line has 
its special significance, it would require a volume 
of considerable size to illustrate the meaning of 
these lines in individual cases. 

It is plain that the Lord's calling to mind or 
remembering the Church is meant in the following 
passage by His having graven Zion on the palms 
of His hands : 

"But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and 
the Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget 
her sucking child, that she should not have compas- 
sion on the son of her womb ? Yea, these may forget, 
yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven 
thee on the palms of My hands; thy walls are con- 
tinually before Me." ' 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the bones of 

the hand are represented by China and Manchuria. 

In the Greatest Man of the universe, the bones 

1 Isaiah xlix., 14-16. 



44 The Mind and the Body 

of the hand are represented by the planet Mer- 
cury. 1 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies 
composing the bones of the hand are the angels 
who love to gather and treasure up vast stores of 
inward knowledge; and they probably travel 
through the whole heaven, collecting knowledge 
on all kinds of interior subjects wherewith to en- 
rich the memory. 

The phalanges, or bones of the fingers, are four- 
teen in number, three for each finger, and two for 
the thumb. The finger bones correspond to the 
faculty of attention to inward knowledge, and 
the thumb bones correspond to the faculty of 
learning inward knowledge by study. The pha- 
langes of the first finger correspond to attention 
to feelings and perceptions ; those of the second 
finger, to attention to thoughts; those of the 
third finger, to attention to knowledge ; and those 
of the fourth finger, to attention to statements. 

Hence the fingers and thumb are joined to the 
extremity of the hand ; for attention to knowledge 
and the learning of it must precede the storing up 
in the memory, and these faculties are likewise 
more external than the memory. Moreover, we 
mentally take hold of things which we wish to 
give attention to and learn about, just as we use 
the fingers and thumbs to grasp objects. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the finger 

> Heavenly Arcana, 6808, 



The Bones 45 

bones are represented by the islands of Japan, 
Kiushiu representing the first finger, Hondo the 
second finger, Yezo the third finger, and the Kurile 
Islands the fourth or little finger. The thumb 
bones are represented by Korea. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies 
constituting the phalanges of the fingers are the 
angels who are fond of giving attention to all 
sorts of interior and subjective knowledge, find- 
ing their chief delight in such intellectual pur- 
suits. Some of the societies are distinguished by 
an emotional attention, giving heed principally 
to emotions and perceptions in what they read 
and hear; some are marked by a thoughtful at- 
tention, being intent for the most part upon the 
thoughts that are expressed; others are char- 
acterized by a knowing attention, liking to know 
about subjects merely as matters of fact; and 
still others pay great attention to statements, 
gleaning from various sources what different 
authorities have to say about a question. The 
societies composing the phalanges of the thumb 
are they who find their greatest pleasure in study- 
ing and memorizing inward knowledge. 

The bones of the feet comprise the tarsus, the 
metatarsus, and the phalanges of the toes. 

The bones of the tarsus really answer to those 
of the carpus or wrist; but they are differently 
arranged, being so placed as to afford a firm 
basis for supporting the rest of the body when 



46 The Mind and the Body 

erect, and while they consequently have greater 
solidity than the wrist bones they lack the mobility 
of the carpus. The bones of the tarsus, like 
those of the wrist, may be separated into two 
rows, the astragalus and the calcaneum constitut- 
ing the back part of the arch in which the bones 
of the foot are constructed, and the other five 
tarsal bones uniting with the foot bones to con- 
stitute the forward part of the arch. The as- 
tragalus, which articulates above with the tibia, 
corresponds to the faculty of making allowances 
for the shortcomings of others ; and the calcaneum, 
which lies below and partly behind the astragalus, 
and transmits most of the weight of the body to 
the ground, corresponds to the faculty of finding 
good in every one. The remaining bones of the 
tarsus correspond to various kinds of rejoicing 
over the good things of others and over one's 
own possessions. 

In the Greatest man of our earth, the tarsus 
is represented by the Greater and Lesser Sunda 
Islands, Sumatra representing the astragalus, and 
Java the calcaneum. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the tarsus are the angels who love to make al- 
lowances for others' faults and imperfections, to 
see whenever possible the good that is in them, 
and to rejoice at the good things which others 
have without envying them such possession; for 
they always bear in mind their own happiness 



The Bones 47 

which the Lord has bestowed on them, and re- 
member that no one angel can possess all the 
virtues or all the good things of heaven. Hence 
these societies are well fitted to go about, together 
with the angels of the feet proper, from one 
society of heaven to another; for they are glad 
to see the varieties of happiness and possession 
in heaven, and are not subject to pangs of envy 
at beholding them. 

The metatarsus constitutes the bones of the 
foot proper. They are the same in number as 
the bones of the hand, and correspond to the 
memory of outward knowledge. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the bones of 
the metatarsus are represented by Australia; 
and in the Greatest Man of the universe, they are 
represented by the planet Venus. 1 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies 
comprising the metatarsus are the angels who 
love to gather and remember all outward facts 
about heaven and the universe in general. Hence, 
as the feet of heaven, they must be fond of 
traveling from place to place, and storing up 
accumulations of outward knowledge about the 
places they visit and the persons they meet. 

The phalanges of the toes answer to those of 
the fingers. The bones of the hallux or great 
toe correspond to the faculty of learning outward 
knowledge by study, and the bones of the other 

Arcana, 7253. 



48 The Mind and the Body 

toes correspond to the faculty of giving attention 
to outward knowledge. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the bones of 
the great toe are represented by Tasmania, and 
the bones of the other toes by New Zealand. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies 
composing the phalanges of the toes are the 
angels who like to devote their time to the study 
of outward matters in general, and who are fond 
of giving attention to all kinds of objective 
problems and knowledge. 

It is noteworthy that the bones do not always 
include the whole of the faculties which they 
represent; for in some instances other and more 
active parts of the same faculties are represented 
by the muscles which overlie the bones. In 
many cases, however, the muscles have an en- 
tirely different signification from the bones with 
which they are connected. 



THE NERVES AND THE MUSCLES 

THE great function of the nerves is to transmit 
impulses from the brain to the body, and 
impressions from the body to the brain, thereby 
connecting brain and body; and hence the 
nerves consist chiefly of nerve-fibres, which 
ramify as nerve-trunks throughout the body. 
But the impulses of the brain sent along the 
nerves to different parts of the body would be 
impotent to effect anything therein without the 
co-operation of the muscles, which, by their in- 
herent power of contracting and pulling upon 
the bones, produce the principal movements 
of the body. Therefore the nerves may be called 
the powers of the mind, and the muscles the 
powers of the body; and their joint activity in 
accomplishing the purposes of the mind in the 
outward world affords an excellent illustration 
of the frequent juxtaposition in the body of 
antithetical tissues and faculties which exert a 
conjunctive and restraining influence over each 
other. 

The principal nerve-trunks consist of the 

4 49 



50 The Mind and the Body 

cranial nerves, which issue from several parts of 
the brain, and the spinal nerves, which emanate 
from the spinal cord ; and the nerve-fibres con- 
veying the impulses of the brain to the body are 
called efferent nerves, while the nerve-fibres 
carrying the impressions of the body to the brain 
are termed afferent nerves. 

It is probable that every faculty residing in the 
brain is connected by nerve-fibres with the 
respective part of the body which corresponds 
thereto ; but if such is the case, the nerve-fibres 
proceeding from several cerebral faculties must 
unite in forming a nerve-trunk, for the same 
nerve often ends in different organs and tissues 
of the body. Nor is it likely that every nerve 
terminating in an organ connects that organ 
with the same cerebral centre; for many organs 
of the body have two nerves, one of which in- 
creases the organ's activity, and the other de- 
creases it, and such opposite influences can 
scarcely originate in the same part of the brain. 
The exact significance of the nerves is in fact 
shrouded in obscurity, and can be unraveled 
only by a very detailed study of their corre- 
spondences. 

Besides the nerve-trunks and their branches, 
there are many nerve-centres or ganglia dis- 
tributed throughout the body. These consist 
primarily of small communities of nerve-cells, 
and may be compared to little brains in the 



The Nerves and the Muscles 51 

body; for their activity is not confined to con- 
veying messages quickly and accurately, but 
they exercise some discretionary powers of action 
which are independent of the conscious thought 
and effort of the brain. 

The medulla oblongata or spinal bulb and the 
spinal cord combine these two functions of nerve- 
trunks and nerve-centres; and they constitute 
the great centres of reflex and automatic action 
in the body, as well as the general channel 
through which most of the nerves pass before 
being separately distributed. The medulla ob- 
longata is a part of the brain, and is continuous, 
through the great foramen at the base of the 
skull, with the spinal cord, which is really the 
bodily counterpart of the medulla. 

The medulla oblongata seems to act as the 
special agent of the cerebellum, as the emotions 
having their seat in the cerebellum affect the 
body and regulate its involuntary operations 
mainly through nerves emanating from the 
medulla; whereas the spinal cord seems to act 
as the special agent of the cerebrum, because the 
volitional and other intellectual activities of the 
cerebrum are largely communicated to the body 
through the spinal nerves. The white matter of 
the spinal cord seems to be concerned chiefly 
with receiving impulses, and the gray matter 
with sending them forth, the neuroglia-cells of 
the white matter, with their tentacle-like pro- 



52 The Mind and the Body 

cesses, taking in the messages, and the cells of the 
gray matter, with their long fibres, sending them 
out. Hence the power of reflex action is pos- 
sessed by the gray matter, and not by the white 
substance of the cord. 

The spinal bulb has a more intense life than 
the spinal cord ; for it is in closer touch with the 
cerebrum and cerebellum, and gathers messages 
more directly from them, sending out some of 
these through nerves issuing from itself, and com- 
municating others to the spinal cord. The spinal 
cord receives its cerebral messages through the 
spinal bulb, and is entrusted with the general 
duty of having them performed; and the filum 
terminale, the downward prolongation of the pia 
mater of the cord, stands like an overseer in the 
midst of a leash of nerve-roots, called the cauda 
equina, to see that the instructions of the spinal 
cord are faithfully carried out. 

In addition to the large nerve-centres of spinal 
bulb and spinal cord, there are small ganglia on 
the posterior roots of the afferent spinal nerves, 
the chief function of which seems to be to gather 
in the messages brought by the afferent nerves, 
and to use their intelligence in reporting to the 
spinal cord only such impressions as are of suf- 
ficient importance to claim its attention. This 
no doubt is a wise provision against the spinal 
cord becoming confused by the receipt of a 
multiplicity of nerve messages without any dis- 



The Nerves and the Muscles 53 

crimination between what is trifling and what 
is important. 

There is also a whole series of ganglia lying in 
a double chain in front and at the sides of the 
spinal column, and connected with one another 
and with the spinal nerves by cords. These 
ganglia with their extensions, which form great 
networks or plexuses upon the heart and about 
the stomach and other abdominal viscera, com- 
prise the sympathetic nervous system. The 
principal function of this system seems to be to 
tap the nerve-wires of the spinal nerves, and to 
spread through the whole community information 
of all affairs of importance that are reported from 
each section, and from the spinal cord itself ; thus 
it serves to bind together the several divisions 
of the bodily community by communicating to 
all the knowledge of everything important that 
happens in any one part. 

The consideration of the correspondences of the 
nerves is complicated by the fact that several 
collections of nerves differ from ordinary con- 
ductive nerves in that they themselves cor- 
respond to mental faculties; thus many of the 
nerves of the arms and legs correspond to the 
faculties of determination and volition, and a 
detailed study of the nerves may disclose other 
faculties. It is impossible to state just how 
these nerve faculties operate as compared with 
the other nerves of the body; but it is probable 



54 The Mind and the Body 

that they are simply expansions of conductive 
nerves that lead down from the cerebral faculties, 
and so operate in a manner similar to that of 
ordinary nerves, except that they act not upon 
the same faculties in the body, but upon different 
faculties represented by the muscles. 

As the nerves are the great conjoining media, 
not only between the brain and the body, but 
also between the different parts of the body, 
therefore the sinew or nerve on the hollow of 
Jacob's thigh being strained while he wrestled 
with the angel signifies the shutting-off of com- 
munication between the higher and the lower, 
and the consequent weakening and vitiation of 
the lower by separation from its interior and 
animating life. 1 

In regard to those in the other life who relate 
to the nerve-centres in general, Swedenborg says: 

"There are many centres and bases in each heaven; 
by them there is immediate communication among 
the heavens, and with God the Messiah. They are 
in a most tranquil state, and cannot be compared 
more aptly than to the ganglia of the human body, 
and the nodes in the brain, into which flow innumer- 
able fibres, and are there as it were formed anew; 
and so the things which are around are disposed ac- 
cording to the ends in the beginnings, and thus all 
these in most perfect order and form, by God the 
Messiah alone." 2 

> Genesis xxxii., 25, 32; Spiritual Diary, 2613, 2617. 
2 Spiritual Diary, 305. 



The Nerves and the Muscles 55 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the spinal 
bulb and cord and the nerves in general have no 
known representation; but the special nerves of 
the arms are represented by Switzerland and 
Tyrol, and those of the legs by Italy. Italy images 
the most remarkable of all geographical cor- 
respondences; for the Italian peninsula bears a 
wonderful likeness to the human leg from knee to 
foot, thus picturing in nature the anatomical 
appearance of the combined nerves of the leg. 
The mainland portion of Italy represents the 
volitional nerves of the thigh. 

In the Greatest Man of the universe, it is 
probable that the medulla oblongata, and con- 
sequently the spinal cord as its bodily counter- 
part, is represented by the asteroids of our 
planetary system; for the medulla oblongata 
lies just below the middle brain, and the orbit 
of the asteroids is next beyond the orbit of Mars, 
which planet corresponds to the middle brain. 
Moreover, the numerous fibres composing the 
medulla are well portrayed by the large number 
of the asteroids. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the medulla oblongata and the spinal cord are the 
angels who serve as intermediates between the in- 
most and the outer heavens, and who, on the one 
hand, receive from the celestial angels messages 
as to what they wish done in or by the lower 
heavens, and, on the other hand, communicate 



56 The Mind and the Body 

to the celestial angels accurate knowledge of 
what is taking place in these heavens. These 
societies probably exercise also some indepen- 
dent powers of action answering to the reflex 
and automatic activities of the medulla and 
cord, presiding over many of the involuntary 
operations of the Greatest Man, and acting on 
their own initiative in cases of emergency where 
prompt action is necessary. 

The societies of the nerve-trunks are the 
angels who work in unison with the above so- 
cieties, and who act as messengers between them 
and the more or less distant provinces of the 
Greatest Man, their chief duty being to convey 
intelligently and quickly the messages which 
they receive. 

The societies of the sympathetic nervous sys- 
tem are they who keep informed of all the great 
internal movements in the lower heavens, and 
who report to the whole community everything of 
importance affecting it, whether with reference 
to the operations of the inmost heaven in the 
lower heavens or with reference to the actions 
of its component societies. Hence these angels 
bind together many heavenly provinces by their 
prompt communication of news of what is hap- 
pening in every quarter. 

Many of the muscles overlying the bones and 
cartilages correspond to more active and more 
emotional parts of the same faculties which the 



The Nerves and the Muscles 57 

bones and cartilages represent, and they often 
correspond to the love of exercising these faculties ; 
but there are a large number of muscles which, 
although attached to bones, yet have an en- 
tirely different signification. 

The chief function of the muscles of the body 
is to produce movements, which the muscles per- 
form by their inherent power of contracting. 
Although the muscles have little spontaneous con- 
tractility, and usually depend upon the stimulus 
of the nerves to put them in action, nevertheless 
their co-operation with the nerves is essential for 
the production of any bodily movement, and to a 
large extent the muscles can refuse to act at the 
instigation of the nerve impulses. 

Hence, as many of the nerves are expressions 
of the volitional forces of the mind, so many of the 
muscles must be the expression of the mental 
powers which resist volitional impulses, or else 
co-operate therewith in their own way and with 
their own intelligence, and which do not act 
merely as transmitting mechanisms. It is there- 
fore to be expected that some of the muscles would 
represent such faculties as the will and deter- 
mination not to do undesired acts, caution, 
self-reliance, and responsibility ; and in fact, these 
are the significations of many of the large muscles 
of the body, as will be seen in the following 
enumeration of the correspondences of several 
important muscles. 



58 The Mind and the Body 

Of the muscles of the neck, the sternocleido- 
mastoid muscle corresponds to determination not 
to do a thing. This muscle has two origins; for 
it arises from the upper surface of the manubrium 
of the sternum, and also from the adjacent por- 
tion of the clavicle, the fibres of the two muscles 
joining as they pass upward to insertion in the 
mastoid process and the temporal and occipital 
bones. The clavicular fibres of the sterno-cleido- 
mastoid muscle, which are deeper and mainly 
attached to the apex of the mastoid process, cor- 
respond to determination not to do undesired 
acts ; while the sternum fibres, which occupy the 
outer position and are attached to the temporal 
and occipital bones, correspond to determination 
not to be forced to do undesired acts. By the 
action of the clavicular fibres the head is bent 
forward, and by the action of the sternal fibres it 
is tilted backward; and these postures of the 
head are instinctively assumed when determina- 
tion not to do undesired acts and determination 
not to be forced to do them are given physical 
expression. It is doubtless owing to the presence 
of the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle in the neck 
that the Jews in their obstinacy were called 
"a stiff-necked people." 1 The splenius muscle 
corresponds to undauntedness. The trapezius 
muscle, which occupies also the upper part of 
the back, corresponds to self-reliance. The action 

1 Exodus xxxii., 9; xxxiii., 3, 5; xxxiv., 9. 



The Nerves and the Muscles 59 

of the splenitis and trapezius muscles in turning 
and drawing back the head produces attitudes 
which are very expressive of fearless and self- 
reliant moods. The muscles of the arms and 
forearms correspond in general to the faculty of 
caution. The latissimus dorsi muscle, which is 
a large muscle situated mainly in the lower and 
superficial part of the back, corresponds to re- 
sponsibility in the conduct of affairs. The 
muscles of the thighs correspond in general to 
different aspects of the faculty of self-esteem. 
Of the muscles of the legs, the gastrocnemius 
muscle corresponds to the will never to yield, the 
peronei muscles correspond to the will not to 
yield unless forced to do so, the extensor longus 
digitorum muscle corresponds to the will to 
yield if it is expedient to do so, and the soleus 
muscle corresponds to persistency. The tendon 
of Achilles, the strongest of all the tendons in the 
body, corresponds to stubbornness. 

These muscles form a bulwark against over- 
wrought nervous activity ; and, by reason of the 
subtle relation and reaction which exist between 
mind and body, it seems likely that the develop- 
ment of the foregoing muscles by physical exer- 
cise will tend to strengthen the corresponding 
faculties of the mind. 

It is noteworthy that the cerebral centres which 
control the muscles of the arms and legs, and 
which are situated along or near the fissure of 



60 The Mind and the Body 

Rolando, seem to correspond to the faculties of 
determination and volition, and not to the 
faculties which these muscles represent. If such 
is the case, it is perhaps in consequence of the 
nerves of the arms and legs, which correspond to 
determination and volition, acting directly upon 
the muscles to produce voluntary movements. 
In most cases, however, such as the cortical cen- 
tres for speech and for the special senses, it is 
probable that the faculties of the brain are con- 
nected by the conjoining nerves with their bodily 
counterparts, and not with antithetical tissues. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the above- 
mentioned muscles are represented by a portion 
of Switzerland (including part of France) , Austro- 
Hungary, Spain, and the islands of Sicily, Sar- 
dinia, Corsica, Elba, and Malta. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the angels 
representing the muscles are in many instances 
societies who constitute more active and emo- 
tional parts of the societies representing the 
bones, and in other instances they are societies 
who possess most strongly developed the deter- 
mination and will not to do undesired acts, 
caution, self-reliance, and self-esteem. These 
angels co-operate with the impulses received 
from the angels of the inmost heaven, but use 
their own wisdom and self-reliance in carrying 
out the instructions sent to them, — at times, no 
doubt, refusing to execute directions which they 



The Nerves and the Muscles 61 

know from experience to be detrimental to the 
good of the community. 

There are a number of muscles, such as the 
muscles of the heart, diaphragm, and cheeks, 
which are not considered here, because they form 
component parts of special organs and sections 
of the body which will be treated of later. 




THE HEART AND THE LUNGS 

THE heart and lungs correspond to the faculty 
of inspiration; the heart corresponding to 
its emotional, and the lungs to its intellectual, 
aspects. 

There are many proofs of such a correspondence. 
The heart and the lungs are the most vital organs 
of the body; for while any other parts of the 
body may be injured without destroying life, a 
stoppage of the functions of the heart and lungs, 
by injury either to them or to the medulla ob- 
longata which controls their operations, is certain 
to cause death. The heart, lungs, and blood- 
vessels constitute a vast unified system, which 
penetrates into almost every tissue of the body; 
and the whole physical organism is more or less 
affected by the impulses of the heart communi- 
cated through the blood-vessels, and by the 
respiratory vibrations of the lungs communicated 
through the ligaments and visceral sheaths. So 
essentially vital, so comprehensive, and so in- 
wardly animative a system can only be the em- 
bodiment of inspiration; for this faculty is the 
62 



The Heart and the Lungs 63 

most vital, the most widespread, and the most 
profoundly influential in human life. We are 
told that everything that a man wills or thinks 
flows into him from the Lord through angels 
and spirits, 1 and that the quality of every one's 
life is determined by the nature of his reception 
of such influx. 2 As the inflow of feelings and 
thoughts from the other world is through inspira- 
tion, a man could not have a single feeling or 
thought, and so could not live at all, without the 
constant operation of this faculty; as a man 
thinks and wills in many ways and on different 
planes, such inspiration must, like the blood- 
vessels, extend to every province of his mind ; 
and as the quality of a man's whole conscious 
life depends upon the degree in which he favors 
inspiration from good or evil spirits, the faculty 
of inspiration profoundly affects his entire nature, 
just as the motions of the blood- vascular system 
and the vibrations of the lungs deeply influence 
the condition of the whole body. 

Moreover, the activities of the whole mind are 
animated and purified by inspiration from on high, 
in the same way that the activities of the body 
are animated and purified by the heart and lungs. 

Although no specific meaning of the heart is 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 4077, 6307; Divine Providence, 287, 
308; Heaven and Hell, 391. 

2 Heaven and Hell, 569; Intercourse between the Soul and 
the Body, 13. 



64 The Mind and the Body 

given in the Bible, it is significant that Aaron was 
commanded, when coming to inquire of the Lord, 
to bear on his heart the Urim and Thummim, by 
means of which inspirational answers and per- 
ceptions of truth were revealed. 1 

The heart corresponds to the reception of in- 
spirational emotions and words of inspiration, 
and the lungs correspond to the reception of in- 
spirational thoughts. There is an analogy be- 
tween the functions of the heart and the lungs ; for 
the heart furnishes a liquid for the nourishment 
of the tissues of the body, while the lungs provide 
a gas for the same purpose, both fluids being neces- 
sary for the maintenance of life : and, spiritually, 
the heart supplies a stream of inspirational teach- 
ing, which is the blood, founded upon its in- 
spirational emotions, perceptions, and words of 
inspiration; and the lungs provide pure spiritual 
truth, which is the oxygen, assimilated and in- 
terpreted by inspirational thought. 

The pericardium, a membranous sac which in- 
vests the heart and the commencement of its 
great vessels, and which shelters the heart and 
facilitates its pulsations, seems to correspond to 
the love of seeking inspiration; for inspiration 
must be sought and striven after before it is re- 
ceived, the desire and effort being like an outer 
covering within which the inspiration comes. 

» Exodus xxviii., 30; Heavenly Arcana, 9905; Apocalypse 
Explained, 431. 



The Heart and the Lungs 65 

Like the heart, the lungs are surrounded by a 
special membrane called the pleura, an outer and 
thicker layer lining the walls of the thorax, and 
an inner delicate and transparent layer closely 
adhering to the lungs themselves. The pleura 
seems to correspond to the thought that man 
should not attempt to solve deep spiritual ques- 
tions by his own intelligence, but should sub- 
mit his mind to the light of inspiration from 
above. 

The arteries and capillaries, which convey the 
bright, red blood to the tissues, correspond to the 
love of clear thinking about inspirational instruc- 
tion on the various planes and provinces of 
human life ; and the veins, which bring back the 
blood to the heart, now rendered dark and gross 
by the addition of the waste products of the 
tissues, correspond to the love of considering 
the inspirational teaching of the blood in the 
light of one's actual knowledge and experience. 
The chief difference between arterial and venous 
blood is the existence of more carbonic-acid gas 
and less oxygen in venous than in arterial blood ; 
and as oxygen represents pure spiritual truth, 1 
carbonic-acid gas, which is produced in propor- 
tion to the activity of the tissues, must represent 
the natural truth or the appearances of truth 
which result from the mental operations of the in- 
dividual, and of which the mind needs constantly 

1 See Worcester, Plants of the Bible, p. 324. 
5 



66 The Mind and the Body 

to be purified by the entrance of additional 
spiritual truth. 

The great function of the blood is to nourish 
the tissues of the body and to carry away their 
waste products ; and correspondentially this office 
is performed by the currents of inspirational 
teaching to which the blood in general corre- 
sponds. The blood is composed chiefly of a color- 
less liquid called plasma, and of minute solid 
substances known as red and white corpuscles. 
The liquid plasma seems to correspond to the in- 
spirational teaching itself ; the red corpuscles, the 
peculiar characteristic of which consists in taking 
up oxygen in the lungs and carrying it to the vari- 
ous tissues, seem to correspond to the love of 
thinking about spiritual subjects; and the white 
corpuscles,which are intimately concerned with the 
building up of tissues in need of repair, and which 
are . remarkable for their constant activity, seem 
to correspond to the love of useful employment 
and practical activity. The inspirational quality 
of the blood, however, does not comprise all its 
uses; for in addition to the central function of 
supplying the inspiration currents so necessary 
to human life, the arterial system has the function 
of providing all the other elements needful for the 
nourishment and life of the body, while the venous 
system has the task of mingling together the 
materials from which the blood is compounded. 1 

» Economy of the Animal Kingdom, 199, 201. 



The Heart and the Lungs 67 

Correspondentially, the heart receives the dark 
venous blood of obscured inspirational teaching 
into the audience-chamber of the right auricle, 
and then pours it into the right ventricle, to be 
submitted there to the broodings of emotional 
and even verbal inspiration, and afterward sends 
it on to the lungs for further enlightenment and 
purification. The lungs, receiving intellectual 
inspiration and illumination from the other 
world, thoughtfully discriminate between the 
true and the false in the blood by applying to it 
the test of pure spiritual truth, and thereby they 
eliminate the impurities of natural desire and the 
fallacies of natural thinking. The blood of in- 
spirational instruction, now rendered bright and 
clean by this refining process, flows down to the 
reception-room of the left auricle, and is emptied 
thence into the left ventricle, which finally speeds 
it forth on its errands of usefulness with the 
strong conviction that it is indeed the living 
truth. 

The work of the ministry resembles the func- 
tions of the heart, lungs, and blood-vessels; for 
true ministers preach spiritual truth and practical 
truth adapted to men's needs, in order that men 
may build up such teaching into their characters, 
and the truth which they preach is vivified and 
enlightened in proportion to the emotional and 
intellectual inspiration which they receive from 
on high. Like the heart, they furnish the 



68 The Mind and the Body 

arterial blood of fresh, cordial, spiritual instruc- 
tion, and like the arteries and capillaries they 
direct and apply it to all the different planes and 
occupations of human activity, and thus animate, 
inspire, and uplift men in their daily vocations; 
and in return they receive from men, like the 
waste elements taken up from the tissues by the 
veins, the obscurities and questionings of natural 
thinking, based on actual experience and natural 
desire. Ministers meditate over these obscurities 
in their hearts, seeking the light of inspiration on 
them, and they perceive the fallacies and remove 
the impurities through the inflow of inspirational 
thought and feeling and by the aid of their 
knowledge of pure spiritual truth ; and then they 
preach anew the real, spiritual truth, and preach 
it all the more clearly and earnestly and forcibly 
for having considered and illuminated the con- 
ditions and questions of practical life. On the 
other hand, the parts of the body which are 
animated and nourished by the blood are like 
the laity, who give heed to the instruction of 
their ministers, and accept it for the guidance, 
nutriment, and inspiration of their lives, and who 
then bring back for solution the obscurities and 
problems which arise in actually living the truth 
or in considering it from a practical standpoint. 

The function of the ministry as the Lord's 
representatives is a feeble imitation of the Lord's 
perfect work while on earth; for He above all 



The Heart and the Lungs 69 

others taught with conviction the pure truth of 
spiritual life which He received from the inspira- 
tion of the Father's love and wisdom, and He 
pondered over and absolutely clarified the ques- 
tionings and gross thoughts which His followers 
brought to Him for enlightenment, and He gave 
ever freely and divinely of the vital truth to all 
who were willing to receive. It is fitting, there- 
fore, that He should have called the bread and 
the wine of the Holy Supper His body and His 
blood; for His body is the divine love of doing 
good, and His blood is the divine truth that 
teaches the way. 

Closely associated with the blood-vascular 
system is the lymphatic system, which in like 
manner ramifies throughout the body; for all 
parts of the body containing blood capillaries also 
contain lymphatic vessels. These vessels serve to 
convey the lymph from the tissues back to the 
blood again ; for the blood does not come into di- 
rect contact with the tissues of the body, but the 
nourishment for the tissues exudes from the blood- 
vessels in the form of lymph, which is the same 
as the blood without the red corpuscles ; and any 
excess of lymph beyond the needs of the tissues 
is gathered up by the lymphatics, and returned 
to the blood for further distribution and service. 
The lymphatics also serve to convey to the blood- 
stream materials of food not directly absorbed by 
the blood-vessels of the alimentary canal. 



70 The Mind and the Body 

The great majority of the lymphatic vessels 
pour their contents into the thoracic duct, lying 
in front of the spinal column, which in turn emp- 
ties the lymph into the beginning of the left 
innominate vein in the neck. The lymphatics 
are connected at intervals with small lymphatic 
glands, in which corpuscles similar to the white 
corpuscles of the blood are multiplied by cell 
division. The lymphatic vessels carrying lymph 
from the intestines are called lacteals, because 
during digestion they are filled with a milky 
fluid. The lacteals of the small intestine not only 
form networks in its walls, but also send pro- 
longations into little club-shaped processes called 
villi, which are concerned in the absorption of 
digested food. 

Food corresponds in general to the new things 
which are taken into the mind either permanently 
or temporarily, according as after examination 
and consideration they are found useful and in- 
corporated or are found useless and rejected. 
The lacteals which take up food already ex- 
amined and digested correspond to. the faculty 
of being on the lookout for all knowledge that 
can be made useful for one's purpose; and the 
little villi determine whether the knowledge pre- 
sented can be made use of, and they accept what- 
ever can be used. The milky fluid, or chyle, in 
the lacteals, representing the knowledge accepted 
by the villi as suitable for the purposes of the 



The Heart and the Lungs 7 1 

bodily community, is conveyed to numerous 
lacteal or lymphatic glands in the layers of the 
mesentery, which glands correspond to the 
faculty of discerning the special uses for which 
the particulars of knowledge are best adapted, and 
is then conducted to the receptacle of the chyle 
in the lower part of the thoracic duct. The re- 
ceptacle of the chyle corresponds to the faculty of 
collecting such knowledge, and the thoracic duct 
corresponds to the faculty of perceiving the re- 
spective provinces or purposes of the mind where 
the collected particulars of knowledge can be em- 
ployed to the best advantage. By the thoracic 
duct the particles of chyle are turned over to 
the blood-vessels for distribution to the mental 
provinces where they are most likely to prove 
useful. 

But some of the lymph does not find employ- 
ment in the province whither it has been dis- 
patched, and has to be removed from the tissue 
which is not in need of such service as it can 
render; and the lymphatic vessels which take 
up the unused portion of the lymph are percep- 
tions that such unapplied knowledge can be used 
elsewhere, and these vessels conduct the lymph 
to the lymphatic glands, which are skilful in dis- 
cerning the peculiar aptitudes of the corpuscles 
of the lumph, and in specializing them into the 
distinctive functions for which they are pre- 
eminently fitted. New sets of lymphatics, which, 



72 The Mind and the Body- 

in consequence of the thorough examination by 
the lymphatic glands, and perhaps also in con- 
sequence of the character of the work performed 
by the lymph-corpuscles in the tissue from which 
they were removed, know the particular use 
which each corpuscle can best perform, now con- 
vey the particles of lymph, with their recom- 
mendations, to the thoracic duct, to be thence 
distributed anew in the light of their clearly 
defined capabilities. 

The operation of the lymphatic vessels mirrors 
a distinct mental process; for it often happens 
that we intend to make use of a fact gathered in 
reading, which, when we come to write it down, 
does not have the close relation to our subject 
that we at first supposed. We presently per- 
ceive, however, that it can be made use of in 
some other way; and then by the very reason 
of its unsuitableness for the place for which it 
was originally intended, and by a close investi- 
gation of just what purpose its import fits it for, 
we are enabled to make a good use of the fact, 
having a clear idea of the exact line of thought 
for which it is suited. The function of the 
lymphatic glands, also, is like that of employ- 
ment bureaus in organized human society, where 
applicants for work are received and examined, 
and where they are classified according to their 
particular aptitudes and abilities. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the heart and 



The Heart and the Lungs 73 

lungs are represented by the countries of the 
eastern Sudan. 

In the Greatest Man of the heavens, the so- 
cieties of the heart and the lungs are the angels 
who more than any others receive inspiration 
from the inmost heaven and from the Lord. The 
angels of the heart receive the deep impulses of 
the Lord's love, vivifying their minds with new 
perceptions and even with oral words, and in- 
spiring them by the pulses of warm emotion 
freely to teach the truth of life to all according to 
their needs. The angels of the lungs co-operate 
in this great work of spiritual instruction, and by 
their reception of thoughtful inspiration from 
above and their knowledge of pure spiritual 
truth they are enabled clearly to distinguish be- 
tween what is true and what is false, and to 
purify the teaching of the angels of the heart 
from many natural obscurities and gross ten- 
dencies which have crept in, and which the 
angels of the heart are less able than they in- 
telligently to eliminate. In this way the societies 
of the lungs render wiser and better the teaching 
of the societies of the heart. The angels of the 
lungs excel in inspirational intelligence; and the 
angels of the heart, in inspirational goodness and 
wisdom. 

The societies of the pericardium are the angels 
who seek for inspiration on all doubtful matters, 
and who are a help and a protection to the 



74 The Mind and the Body 

societies of the heart by reason of their insistence 
on the need of inspiration, and their earnest 
endeavor to receive it. 

The societies of the pleura are the angels who 
are emphatic as to the necessity of discarding 
self -intelligence in spiritual matters, and of earn- 
estly looking to the Lord for the inspirational 
enlightenment of the thoughts. Hence, like the so- 
cieties of the pericardium in relation to the angels 
of the heart, these societies act as a protective 
covering to the angels of the lungs, and by their 
knowledge of the insufficiency of man's own wis- 
dom to fathom many spiritual problems, and their 
insistence on the need of inspiration from on high, 
they facilitate the inspirational thinking of the 
angels of the lungs. The angels of the pleura and 
pericardium are eloquent as to the inadequacy of 
human wisdom to explore the secret recesses of 
spiritual truth, and as to the wrongness of em- 
ploying one's own intelligence in the effort to pene- 
trate such mysteries, and they insist strongly upon 
the need of earnestly and devoutly seeking the 
heavenly illumination which is shed upon man's 
purblind mind when he approaches the Lord in 
the proper spirit; but all the real thinking and 
inward understanding of spiritual questions de- 
volve upon the societies of the heart and lungs, 
the angels of the pleura and pericardium lend- 
ing only a sympathetic and receptive support. 1 

i Spiritual Diary, 1721-1726. 



The Heart and the Lungs 75 

The angels of the pleura and pericardium serve 
especially to protect the heart and lung societies 
from the hardness of the societies of the ribs, 
who are fond of exercising their own intelligence 
and care little for inspirational thinking. 

The societies of the arteries and capillaries are 
they who love to think the clear truth of in- 
spirational teaching and suggestion, and to con- 
vey it to those who need its ministering and 
uplifting aid; and the societies of the veins are 
they who love to consider such teaching and sug- 
gestion in the light of their own experience and 
knowledge, and to gain enlightenment on the 
problems arising from such consideration. 

The societies of the entire blood- vascular sys- 
tem, comprising the heart, lungs, arteries, and 
veins, seem to constitute the organized ministry 
of heaven, the societies of the heart and lungs 
consisting of the best and wisest ministers who 
receive the highest degree of inspirational good- 
ness and wisdom, and the societies of the arteries 
and veins consisting of the ministers who are dis- 
tributed throughout the heavenly provinces, and 
who are animated and enlightened in their work 
by the societies of the heart and lungs. 1 

The angels of the plasma and red corpuscles 
seem to be the emissaries sent out from the 
province of the heart to teach and enlighten the 
different heavenly provinces whenever necessary. 

» Heaven and Hell, 393. 



76 The Mind and the Body 

There must always be questions and obscurities 
arising in all parts of heaven which cannot be 
satisfactorily answered and dispelled by the 
angels of these societies, who need the influence 
of inspiration to clear their minds on the subject ; 
and this function is no doubt performed by the 
angels of the plasma and red corpuscles. The 
instruction must differ, however; for the plasma, 
which contains in solution many nutritive ma- 
terials for the use of the tissues, exudes from the 
blood-vessels and comes into direct contact with 
the tissues, bringing them nourishment and re- 
moving waste debris; while the red corpuscles 
remain within the blood-vessels, and transmit 
their oxygen through the walls of these vessels. 
These differences indicate that the angels of the 
plasma enter more or less fully into the states of 
the societies they visit, instructing them in all 
kinds of substantial truth necessary for their 
sustenance and development, and removing their 
difficulties as far as possible ; but that the angels 
of the red corpuscles love to remain in a spiritual 
state of mind, and to view everything from a 
spiritual standpoint, and so they stay in the more 
spiritual atmosphere of the blood-vessels, up- 
lifting the mind, by their teaching of pure spirit- 
ual truth, to a higher level of spiritual thought 
and perception than is habitual to these societies. 
The white corpuscles, which exhibit all the 
characteristics of the simple cells of which the 



The Heart and the Lungs 77 

whole body is composed, and which, although not 
as yet differentiated to any particular line of 
activity, nevertheless possess a capacity and a 
desire for useful employment, seem to represent 
the newcomers who are constantly being received 
into heaven, and who, after the necessary train- 
ing, are incorporated according to their peculiar 
abilities into the different heavenly societies. 
However, the nutritive elements contained in the 
plasma may also represent the novitiate spirits 
who become a part of heaven. 

Accompanied by the angels of the plasma and 
red corpuscles the newcomers pass along through 
the societies of the arteries and veins as they go 
to the societies of the heart and lungs and other 
heavenly societies for enlightenment and purifi- 
cation, in order that everything in them that pro- 
duces a want of harmony with one another and 
with the whole heaven may be removed; and 
doubtless they receive from these angels on the 
way much profitable instruction on the condi- 
tions and requirements of the heavenly life upon 
which they are about to enter. A great deal of 
the noblest animation, instruction, and purifica- 
tion of novitiate spirits, after they have been 
sufficiently refined and trained by the other 
preparatory societies, and when they are nearly 
ready to begin a life of active usefulness in 
heaven, must be accomplished in the provinces of 
the heart and lungs; and when their instruction 



78 The Mind and the Body 

in these provinces is finished, they are sent forth 
from the heart, like purified blood, full of eager 
desire for any good use they are able to per- 
form, to be distributed throughout the heavens to 
their respective societies. 

The societies of the villi and lacteals, so largely 
concerned in the body with the absorption of food, 
are the angels who are always alert and watchful 
for every variety of good life in new spirits that 
can be made use of in the heavenly community, 
and who, aided by their knowledge of the needs 
and requirements of heaven, accept all individuals 
in whom they perceive a desire and capacity for 
useful service. The societies of the lacteals con- 
vey these individuals to the societies of the lacteal 
glands, where their respective capabilities are in- 
vestigated and determined, and they are then 
conducted to the societies of the thoracic duct, 
who possess a general knowledge of the particular 
societies of heaven where the new spirits are most 
likely to prove useful. From here, if they need 
no special disciplining, the newcomers are sent to 
the angels of the heart and lungs to be brought 
more fully into the flow of heavenly life, and to 
be inspired and animated with a purified love of 
doing good, after which they are speeded on their 
way to the societies for which they seem best 
fitted. 

But if there is the perfect analogy between the 
human body and heaven which we are told there 



The Heart and the Lungs 79 

is, 1 it must be true that all the newcomers do not 
at once come to the societies to which they in- 
teriorly belong, but that they are sometimes ad- 
mitted to societies where they are unable to 
render efficient service; for it must frequently 
happen that individuals have predilections for 
special lines of work for which they are really ill- 
fitted, and this they find out best by making the 
actual experiment. For the further guidance of 
all newcomers who have not, after a trial, found 
their distinctive niche in the heavenly economy, 
there must exist heavenly societies who perform 
the functions of the lymphatics in the Greatest 
Man. By such societies, who perceive that the 
unsuccessful novitiates can be utilized in some 
other provinces, the newcomers are taken to 
societies representing the lymphatic glands, who 
make a careful examination as to the real apti- 
tudes of the new spirits, their investigations being 
assisted by the want of success of the spirits in 
the province they have left ; and afterward other 
lymphatic societies, who as a result of this ex- 
amination know accurately the special capacities 
of the newcomers, conduct them to the societies 
of the thoracic duct for exact distribution to the 
societies which are destined to become their 
permanent home. The angels of the plasma also 
pass through the lymphatic societies when re- 
turning to the heart for further duties in other 
» Heavenly Arcana, 3630, 3745. 



8o The Mind and the Body 

provinces. The ways of the arteries and veins 
and lymphatics are doubtless the "various ways 
and winding paths" by which, we are told, spirits 
reach their respective societies. 1 

Newly deceased spirits, we are informed, are 
taken up through other societies than the lacteals 
of the intestines ; for some are taken directly into 
the societies of the blood-vessels at the mouth, 
some at the stomach, and some at the intestines, 
and nearly all, even after admission into heaven 
through the societies of the alimentary canal, 
require more or less disciplining and purifying 
and training, which are represented by the chas- 
tenings and clarifyings of the blood and chyle. 2 

Swedenborg gives the will and the understand- 
ing as the correspondence of the heart and lungs, 
and states that the societies of the heart and 
lungs constitute the celestial and spiritual king- 
doms of heaven. 3 But it is evident that this is 
a very general statement; for the will and the 
understanding comprise the whole of man's 
mind, and the celestial and spiritual kingdoms 
the whole of heaven, and such a correspondence 
leaves no room whatever for all the other organs 
of the body and societies of heaven, which, as 
well as the heart and lungs, represent faculties of 
the will and understanding. 

» Heaven and Hell, 519. 

2 Spiritual Diary, 1021; Heavenly Arcana, 5173-5175- 

3 Heavenly Arcana, 3887, 3888. 



The Heart and the Lungs 81 

Swedenborg alludes to the marvellously sweet 
choral singing of the societies of the lungs, and 
says that angels from the lungs are present with 
a man when he sleeps, and give him then an in- 
voluntary respiration in place of his voluntary 
breathing. 1 

He also refers to the gentle circulatory motions 
or gyrations in the societies of the lymphatics; 
and he speaks of spirits as belonging to the re- 
ceptacle of the chyle and the thoracic duct who 
were desirous of collecting all possible knowledge 
in regard to the thoughts of others, and then 
using such knowledge for their own purposes, 2 
just as the receptacle and duct in the human 
body collect knowledge from all sources, and 
apply it to the various uses of the body. 

» Heavenly Arcana, 3893. 

2 Idem, 5180; Spiritual Diary, 1127-1137. 

6 




THE DIAPHRAGM 

THE diaphragm is a thin, vaulted partition 
separating the cavity of the thorax from 
the cavity of the abdomen. Its construction is 
peculiar in that it consists of muscular and ten- 
dinous portions converging for insertion into a 
large central tendon, which forms the dome of 
the vault. On its upper surface the diaphragm 
is connected with the pleura, and its under sur- 
face is covered by the peritoneum. Two strong 
tendinous pillars or crura bind the diaphragm 
firmly to lumbar vertebras of the backbone. 

The diaphragm is the means by which em- 
phasis is given to the voice ; for by virtue of the 
rapid and vigorous action of its muscles it drives 
the air forcibly through the windpipe, and so 
gives emphasis and power to the voice. The 
diaphragm also co-operates with the ribs and 
costal muscles in the mechanism of respiration: 
for by the contraction of its muscles during in- 
spiration, and the consequent depression of its 
arch, it increases the capacity of the thorax, and 
thus draws in a larger volume of air ; and by the 
82 



The Diaphragm 83 

relaxation of its muscles during expiration it as- 
sists in expelling the air out of the lungs. It is 
a singular physiological fact that in men the 
diaphragm takes a larger share in this process, 
while in women the respiratory act is largely the 
result of the movement of the ribs. By its con- 
nection above with the pleura, and below with the 
peritoneum, the diaphragm receives directly the 
animations of the lungs, and imparts their motions 
to all the viscera of the abdomen, in this way aid- 
ing them in the performance of their functions. 
On account of the extensive influence which the 
diaphragm exerts, Swedenborg calls it "the most 
general uniting medium in the whole body." * 

The diaphragm corresponds to the faculty of 
being positive and emphatic in statements, and 
the two strong pillars attaching it to the back- 
bone correspond to the faculty of not receding 
from assertions. 

While the faculty represented by the diaphragm 
is not of a very high order, and is disposed to 
dogmatism, it nevertheless possesses a great deal 
of strength, and if rightly exercised it requires 
accurate knowledge of the subject talked about, 
and displays a central power of resistance to all 
antagonistic wishes and suggestions. 

The assistance which the diaphragm renders 
to respiration and to speech is paralleled by the 
positiveness which such a faculty gives to the 

» Animal Kingdom, ii., 448. 



84 The Mind and the Body 

thinking, and to the expression of thoughts. 
The circumstance that diaphragmatic breathing 
is more pronounced in men than in women in- 
dicates that men are more positive and emphatic 
in their thinking and statements than women. 
A somewhat similar difference between the sexes 
is that men possess heavier facial bones than 
women; and as the bones of the cheeks and jaws 
correspond to domination, this difference shows 
that men have a more dominating personality 
than women. 

The entire human body is divisible into three 
distinct sections, corresponding to the three 
general degrees of feeling, thought, and knowl- 
edge. The bodily division of feeling is repre- 
sented by the head as containing the brain, for 
there all the faculties are in their essential and 
perceptive life, and all inward life is from feeling; 
this section may be called the degree of percep- 
tive emotionality. The bodily division of thought 
is represented by the trunk and the arms and 
legs to the elbows and knees, for here are located 
the most thoughtful faculties, which, however, 
lack the perceptive emotionality which the same 
faculties have in the brain; this section may be 
styled the degree of concrete intellectuality. 
The bodily division of knowledge is represented 
by the extremities below the elbows and knees, 
for many of the faculties of knowledge are situ- 
ated in these extremities, and as a rule the 



The Diaphragm 85 

faculties here possess even less of the emotional 
element than the section of concrete intellectual- 
ity possesses; this section may be termed the 
degree of abstract intellectuality. 

Each of the above three sections is separable 
into three smaller sections of feeling, thought, and 
knowledge. In the brain, the cerebellum corre- 
sponds to feeling, the hinder cerebrum to thought, 
and the frontal cerebrum to knowledge. In the 
body proper, the thorax corresponds to feeling, 
the abdomen to thought, and the arms and legs 
to the elbows and knees to knowledge. In the 
extremities, the lower arms and legs correspond to 
feeling, the hands and feet to thought, and the 
fingers and toes to knowledge. 

These are the great divisions of the body; but 
they hold true only in a general way, and do not 
apply to every detail. 

The appropriateness of the position of the dia- 
phragm between the emotional and the thoughtful 
divisions of the most thoughtful section of the body 
is therefore apparent; for all thinking whether 
emotional or intellectual requires more or less posi- 
tiveness and assertion, in order to have any active 
existence and to be framed into words by the lips. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the dia- 
phragm is represented by the Transvaal, which 
has a similar vaulted shape; and the pillars or 
crura of the diaphragm are represented by the 
Orange River Colony. 



86 The Mind and the Body 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies 
of the diaphragm are the angels who are very 
emphatic and decided in their affirmations and 
negations, and who, whenever they have suffi- 
cient knowledge on a subject, are fond of per- 
emptorily declaring that a thing is so or not so. 
These societies are supported in their assertions 
by the societies of the pillars of the diaphragm, 
who are firm and unyielding in their character, and 
unwilling, except for very good reasons, to recede 
from any assertion which has been made. These 
societies are of great assistance to the societies 
of the lungs, enabling them to think strongly and 
decidedly; and on the other hand the angels of 
the diaphragm receive through the societies of 
the pleura and the pericardium the inspirational 
animations of the angels of the lungs and heart, 
helping them to see and even to feel clearly 
whether a thing is so or not, and to make their 
assertions intelligently. These inspirational ani- 
mations the angels of the diaphragm impress in 
turn upon all the visceral societies of the abdomen 
of heaven, assisting them also to think clearly 
and in accordance with the flow of heavenly 
wisdom, and at the same time imparting to their 
mental operations a positiveness and conviction 
which they otherwise would not possess. 



THE TRACHEA AND THE PHARYNX 



THE trachea, or windpipe, is a wide tube kept 
permanently open by a series of cartilagi- 
nous rings imbedded in its walls. At its lower 
extremity the trachea divides into two branches, 
the right and the left bronchus, by which it com- 
municates with the bronchial tubes of the lungs ; 
and at its upper extremity it ends in the short 
tubular box of the larynx, through the mechan- 
ism of which sound is produced. The larynx 
opens above into the lower part of the pharynx, 
a muscular and membranous tube completing 
the air-passage from the mouth and nose to the 
lungs. 

The function of the trachea and its bronchi, in 
addition to providing a channel for the flow of 
air between the outward atmosphere and the 
lungs, is to examine and correct the air which is 
admitted, and to prevent anything injurious 
from entering the lungs, and also to assist the 
lungs in emitting their exhalations into the general 
atmosphere. 

The larynx is the organ of the voice, and its 
87 



88 The Mind and the Body 

function consists in the production of vocal 
sounds, which are formed by the air breathed 
out of the trachea putting in vibration the vocal 
chords stretched across the orifice of the larynx. 
The larynx, however, produces sound only, the 
modulation of the voice into articulate speech 
being effected by the varied positions of the 
tongue and lips. 

The pharynx has a double office, for it serves 
as an entrance to the alimentary canal as well as 
to the larynx and trachea. Its chief functions 
consist in co-operating with the larynx and 
trachea, transmitting their aerial currents to the 
mouth to be modulated into definite words by the 
tongue and lips; and in swallowing the food re- 
ceived from the tongue and soft palate, and thus 
forcing it into the oesophagus. The movements 
of the pharynx are not concurrent with those of 
the larynx and trachea, but follow them and 
reciprocate with them. 

The trachea, the bronchi, and the larynx cor- 
respond to the faculty of exercising authority. 
The trachea corresponds to the consciousness and 
assertion of authority; the larynx, to the giving 
of commands; the left bronchus, to watching 
whether the commands are carried out; and the 
right bronchus, to chiding if they are not obeyed. 
The pharynx corresponds to the faculty of not 
taking commands except from those who have 
the rightful authority. 



The Trachea and the Pharynx 89 

These correspondences are mirrored in the 
functions of the trachea, larynx, and pharynx: 
for, on the one hand, the trachea and its bronchi 
stand as a guard before the lungs, and exercise 
authority in preventing any hurtful element from 
entering their delicate tissues ; and, on the other 
hand, they receive the currents of air sent forth 
from the lungs, and convey them to the larynx 
to be given vocal utterance if desired, and they 
lend their authority to these utterances, in order 
that the interior motions imparted to the breath 
by the lungs may be readily brought forth into 
the outward world, and be framed into com- 
mands, speech, singing, or other sounds. Hence 
these organs give authoritative utterance to the 
inspirational meditations of the lungs, and they 
also give initial and emotional expression to all 
the knowledge, thought, and feeling of the mind 
which are communicated by the voice. The 
special duty of the larynx is to give commands, 
yet it works in harmony with the trachea in adapt- 
ing itself to and expressing all the aerial motions 
and impulses received from the lungs for vocal 
utterance. But the trachea and larynx would 
be powerless to accomplish their purposes unless 
the pharynx, which completes the passage to the 
mouth and nose, received their commands, recog- 
nized their authority, and gave its ready co- 
operation; for commands and authority have 
no force unless they are recognized as valid and 



90 The Mind and the Body 

lawful, and the pharynx is not a mere adjunct of 
the trachea and larynx, but has separate activities 
of its own not coincident with theirs, which it 
can refuse to exercise. As regards its function 
of assisting in the act of swallowing, the phar- 
ynx receives the food, after it has been taken 
in by the lips, examined by the teeth, tasted by 
the tongue, and dominated by the palate, and 
pushes it down without parley into the oesopha- 
gus, to be conducted to the stomach and in- 
testines. Hence the pharynx sees to it that 
the food goes in the appointed direction with- 
out reference to any inclination the food may 
have as to its destination and disposal. 

Both the trachea and the larynx are smaller 
in the female than in the male, and this difference 
shows that women are less authoritative and less 
commanding than men. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the trachea 
is represented by northern Bechuanaland ; the 
larynx, by Damaraland; the left bronchus, by 
southern Bechuanaland; the right bronchus, by 
Great Namaqualand ; and the pharynx, by Angola. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the trachea, bronchi, and larynx are the angels 
who stand as a guard before the societies of the 
lungs, and use their authority to prevent any 
injurious element from entering these interior 
societies; and they receive the results of the in- 
spirational thinking of the angels of the lungs, 



The Trachea and the Pharynx 91 

and carry them forth to be communicated to the 
heavens in general. They also add the weight of 
their authority to the wise thoughts of the angels 
of the lungs, and utter them as the authoritative 
teaching of heaven; and they willingly conform 
themselves to the impulses communicated from 
the lung societies, so as to give vocal expression 
to their thoughts and feelings whether in speech 
or song. When, as is sometimes the case, the 
whole heaven speaks as one man, many other 
societies of the palate, mouth, nose, tongue, 
lips, and teeth take part, in order to give in- 
tellectual distinctness and defmiteness to the 
more emotional expressions of the trachea and 
larynx. 

The angels of the trachea and larynx exercise 
the authority of the heavens, and they must per- 
form many important functions in this capacity 
with reference both to the angels and spirits of 
heaven and to the devils of hell. 

The societies of the pharynx co-operate in a 
distinctive way with the angels of the trachea and 
larynx, recognizing their authority as rightful and 
valid, and quickly complying with their behests ; 
but when these pharyngeal societies assist in 
transferring to the societies of the oesophagus the 
newly arrived spirits, who are the food of heaven, 
they take no commands from these spirits, and 
listen to no orders from them as to their dis- 
posal, but hurry them along without parley to the 



92 The Mind and the Body 

societies of the oesophagus, to be conducted to 
places of instruction and purification for the 
good or to places of separation and rejection for 
the evil. 




THE THYMUS GLAND AND THE THYROID 
BODY 

THE thymus gland is a soft, tabulated body- 
situated behind the sternum, and overlying 
the great vessels of the heart covered by the 
pericardium. It consists of two lobes, prolonga- 
tions of which are carried upward into the neck, 
and the lobe reaching farthest up is attached to 
the corresponding lobe of the thyroid body by a 
strand of connective tissue. This gland attains 
its maximum development toward the end of the 
second year, and then remains almost stationary 
until the sixth year, after which period it dwindles 
away until in adult age very little of it is left. 

The thyroid body is a highly vascular structure 
located in the neck. It exhibits three well- 
marked divisions, which consist of two lateral 
lobes clasping the upper part of the trachea and 
extending upward on each side of the larynx, 
and of a middle portion or isthmus uniting the 
lobes. It is firmly attached to the viscera on 
which it lies, and follows all the movements of the 
larynx. The thyroid body is firmer in substance 

93 



94 The Mind and the Body 

than the thymus gland, and continues throughout 
life. Its size varies greatly in different indi- 
viduals; but it is relatively larger in the female 
and the child than in the adult male, although 
the isthmus is usually very insignificant in 
children. Goitre is a chronic enlargement of the 
thyroid body, and women are more subject than 
men to this disease. 

According to Swedenborg's theory, the function 
of the thymus gland is to supply the neighboring 
organs and vessels with an oily secretion, which 
lubricates their tissues, and ensures their smooth 
and uniform motion. He states that this gland 
is continually pouring out its secretions according 
to the requirements of the heart, lungs, pleurae, 
and other surrounding viscera, but in varying 
quantity proportionate to their activity, a larger 
quantity being sent forth "when the heart is in 
an unruly condition, throbbing and palpitating 
with vehement action, when the lungs, impetuous 
and boiling, dash against the interposing dyke of 
the mediastinum, and beat and shake it with the 
windy tempest shut up in their ^Eolian bags, and 
when the trachea, oesophagus, the great artery, 
and the vena cava are in a similar uneasy state." * 
The thymus gland seems also to act as the 
great lymphatic gland of early life, in which the 
colorless corpuscles of the blood are formed or 
elaborated. 

i Animal Kingdom, ii., 436. 



Thymus Gland and Thyroid Body 95 

The function of the thyroid body is unknown; 
but it is supposed to take some part in the forma- 
tion of the blood. 

The thymus gland corresponds to the love of 
dependence. In children it is the love of being 
cared for by their parents, of receiving instruction 
from them as to what is hurtful and what is use- 
ful, and of living in sweet and lowly dependence 
upon their goodness and bounty. It was this 
trait of little children that the Lord commended 
to His disciples when they were striving for pre- 
eminence, telling them that unless they became 
as little children they could not enter the kingdom 
of heaven ; for unless they were willing to humble 
their feeling of personal greatness and self-suf- 
ficiency, and live in trustful dependence upon the 
Lord's goodness and wisdom, they would not be 
able either to receive or to enjoy the heavenly 
kingdom. 

The faculty of dependence is largest during 
early childhood; but when the child arrives at 
the age of reason, and begins to exercise his own 
mental and volitional powers, he quickly ceases 
to be so dependent upon his parents and in- 
structors, just as the thymus gland is largest from 
the second to the sixth year of childhood, and 
only gradually decreases in size until puberty, 
when it undergoes a rapid degeneration. In 
adult age most persons have children or other 
individuals dependent upon them, and they take 



96 The Mind and the Body 

care of themselves, and form their own ideas, in- 
stead of depending upon their parents for support 
and instruction; and hence in that age very little 
of this gland is left. Some trace of it, however, 
always remains; for we are always more or less 
dependent upon the labors of others, and spirit- 
ually we are always dependent upon the Lord 
for His goodness, His bounty, and His gracious 
providence. 

The function of the thymus gland in furnishing 
an oily secretion for the harmonious and uniform 
working of the viscera of the thorax is paralleled 
by the operation of this faculty in the mind ; for 
the faculty of dependence itself is always in a 
tranquil and receptive state, and it pours out its 
quieting influence like an oil upon the faculty 
of inspiration and other faculties which need a 
sense of lowliness and dependence for the even 
and peaceful performance of their functions. 

The circumstance that the thymus serves as the 
great lymphatic gland of early life, and as a 
laboratory for the manufacture of the white cor- 
puscles of the blood, perhaps finds its correspond- 
ence in the fact that children depend very largely 
upon their elders for suggestion and advice as to 
what to do or how to be actively employed; 
for the white corpuscles of the blood, as was 
shown above, correspond to the love of active 
employment. 

In hibernating animals the thymus gland ex- 



Thymus Gland and Thyroid Body 97 

ists throughout life, and becomes greatly enlarged 
and laden with fat as the period of hibernation 
approaches; for the animal then relapses into a 
state of complete inactivity, and becomes en- 
tirely dependent, for the maintenance of its life, 
upon the supplies of food which have already 
been stored up in its tissues. 

The thyroid body is the antithesis of the 
thymus gland, and corresponds to the love of 
personal importance. Its two lateral lobes cor- 
respond to the feeling and assertion of one's im- 
portance, and the uniting isthmus corresponds to 
the love of demonstrating to others one's im- 
portance. The strand of tissue connecting the 
thymus gland with the thyroid body corresponds 
to the thought that while one is of no very great 
importance, still he is of some importance. 

Why the faculty of personal importance should 
be larger in women and children than in men 
is not clear; but it is probably because men, 
by their more active life, come in contact with 
a wider range of humanity than women and 
children, whose circle of acquaintanceship is com- 
paratively limited, and hence men are more likely 
to meet others of equal and even superior ability 
to their own, and this experience tends to reduce 
the feeling of their own greatness and import- 
ance. Moreover, most men, unlike the majority 
of women and children, have to work under an 
employer, and service in a subordinate position 



98 The Mind and the Body 

is not conducive to the development of self- 
importance. While the lobes of this gland are 
larger in children than in men, the isthmus is 
usually very insignificant, because children as a 
rule have very little means of showing an import- 
ance which they do not possess. The monstrous 
disease of goitre corresponds to an exaggerated 
sense of one's own importance ; and this affliction, 
likewise, claims more victims among women than 
among men. 

The thyroid body is firmly attached to the 
larynx and follows all its movements, because the 
love of personal importance and the love of giving 
commands are closely associated in their work; 
for it requires some feeling of importance to give 
commands to others. 

The removal of the thyroid body causes death ; 
and consequently it must perform some im- 
portant service in the body, which is no doubt 
accomplished by its internal secretion. It is 
probable that the secretion which the thyroid 
sends to the blood adds correspondentially to the 
blood a sense of the importance of its work: and 
if this sense is taken away completely by the re- 
moval of the thyroid body, the ability to work at 
all ceases, and the man or animal dies ; for no one 
can work long at any task, or even continue to 
live, unless he feels that he and what he does 
have at least some importance in the world. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 



Thymus Gland and Thyroid Body 99 

the thymus gland and the thyroid body exert an 
opposite influence. The angels of the thymus 
gland bring to others a sense of lowliness and of 
dependence on the Lord which makes them 
gentler, more trustful, and more receptive, and 
which anoints their hearts with a quietness and 
sweet joy that prepares them for harmonious 
work, and stills the overwrought perturbations 
of self-activity. The societies of the connective 
strand between the thymus and the thyroid are 
the angels who acknowledge that no single person 
is of very great importance amid the myriads of 
created human beings, but who yet recognize that 
every one, no matter how lowly, is of some im- 
portance as a component part of the great whole. 
The societies of the thyroid body are the more 
active but less gentle angels, who are strenuous in 
the assertion of their importance, and who love to 
manifest their importance to others whenever oc- 
casion for it arises. Hence they are well adapted 
to co-operate with the angels of the trachea and 
larynx, who exercise authority and give com- 
mands; and they no doubt have the function of 
communicating to the societies of the blood a 
needful sense of the great importance and useful- 
ness of the inspired teaching which these societies 
bring to all the heavens, and which is the vital 
fountain of all the active energy of the angels. 

Swedenborg makes no reference to the angels 
of the thyroid body; but he gives the following 



ioo The Mind and the Body 

description of those who constitute the province 
of the thymus gland : 

"There are certain upright spirits who think with- 
out meditation, and hence utter quickly and as it 
were without premeditation what occurs to their 
thought. They have interior perception, which is 
not made so visible by meditations and thoughts as 
with others ; for in the course of life they have been 
instructed as of themselves about the goodness of 
things, and not so much about their truth. I have 
been informed that such spirits belong to the prov- 
ince of the thymus gland; for the thymus is a gland 
which is serviceable especially to infants, and in that 
age is soft. With such spirits, also, there remains a 
soft infantile principle, into which flows the percep- 
tion of good, from which perception truth shines 
forth in a general way. These spirits can be in large 
groups, and yet not be disorganized, as is also the 
case with that gland." ' 

The reception of instruction, the lack of deep 
thought, and the free, artless utterance here re- 
ferred to might well be expected of those who 
depend so much upon others, and who lead a life 
of simple joys, undarkened by the shadow of 
care. 

' Heavenly Arcana, sit 2. 



THE EAR 

THE ear is a very complicated structure, being 
composed of several distinct portions ar- 
ranged in a series from the outer ear, which 
merely receives the vibrations of sound, to the 
inner auditory cellular apparatus, which per- 
ceives the vibrations, and transmits them through 
appropriate nerves to the brain. It will there- 
fore be necessary to describe with some detail 
the different parts of the organ of hearing. 

The ear is divided into three general sections, — 
the external ear, the middle ear, and the internal 
ear. 

The external ear consists of the visible portion 
of the ear, which is largely made up of cartilage, 
and the external auditory canal, which leads into 
the bone of the head as far as the middle ear, from 
which it is separated by the tympanic membrane. 

The middle ear, or tympanum, is a small air 
chamber in the temporal bone, intervening be- 
tween the external and the internal ear. Within 
its cavity are the tympanic ossicles, — three small 
bones, called the malleus, the incus, and the 



102 The Mind and the Body 

stapes, which form a chain across the middle ear, 
one end being attached to the tympanic mem- 
brane, and the other end to the membrane of the 
fenestra ovalis. 

The middle ear has indirect communication 
with the external air by means of the Eustachian 
tube, which joins it with the pharynx; and its 
mucous membrane covers groups of cavities in 
the mastoid process of the temporal bone, which 
are filled with air, and which are known as the 
mastoid air-cells. 

The internal ear is composed of the bony 
labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth, and 
is filled with fluid instead of air. 

The bony labyrinth is an intricately shaped 
bone, divided into three parts, — the cochlea, the 
vestibule, and the three semicircular canals. 
The cochlea is a round tube wound upon itself in 
a narrowing spiral resembling a snail's shell, and 
its cavity is partially divided into two passages 
by the spiral lamina, a thin shelf of bone which 
curls round the central pillar of the cochlea like 
the thread of a screw. The vestibule is the 
middle part of the bony labyrinth, and has two 
small openings or windows, across which are 
stretched the membranes of the fenestra ovalis 
and the fenestra rotunda, affording communication 
between the internal and the middle ear. The 
three semicircular canals lie nearly at right angles 
to one another in the three directions of space. 



The Ear 103 

The membranous labyrinth lies within the bony 
labyrinth, and it is still more intricately fashioned. 
It consists of the cochlea, a triangular tube at- 
tached to the spiral lamina of the bony labyrinth, 
and following its windings ; the saccule and utricle, 
situated in the vestibule of the bony labyrinth, 
and connected with each other by membranous 
canals ; and a series of semicircular canals similar 
to those of the bony labyrinth, and called the su- 
perior, the posterior, and the external semicircular 
canals. 

A branch of the auditory nerve communicating 
with the cerebrum is distributed to the cochlea, 
and another branch connecting with the cere- 
bellum is supplied to the saccule, the utricle, and 
the semicircular canals. 

All along the inner surface of the cochlea of the 
membranous labyrinth there extends a minute 
structure known as the organ of Corti. It con- 
sists in part of several thousands of tiny pillars of 
diminishing length arranged in two rows. These 
are the rods of Corti, and they are lined on both 
sides by peculiar epithelial cells furnished with 
hairs. Within the saccule, utricle, and semi- 
circular canals of the membranous labyrinth are 
also ridges and patches of epithelial cells pro- 
vided with hairs, and projecting into the cavity 
of the labyrinth. It is principally these cells 
which, receiving the impulsions of the fluid in 
the internal ear caused by the vibrations of the 



104 The Mind and the Body 

fenestras membranes, give rise to sensations of 
sound. 

The general function of the ear is to receive, 
discern, and discriminate sounds. 

The external ear merely receives sonorous 
vibrations, for which purpose its irregular eleva- 
tions and depressions are well adapted, and con- 
veys them to the external auditory canal, which 
collects the vibrations, and communicates them in 
an accurate summary to the tympanic membrane. 
The tympanic membrane takes up the sonorous 
undulations, and transmits them through the vi- 
brations of its own substance to the air in the 
chamber of the middle ear, and to the tympanic 
ossicles. 

These undulations of sound may be communi- 
cated to the fluid of the internal ear, either by the 
vibrations of the air in the middle ear acting upon 
the two fenestras membranes, or by the vibrations 
of the chain of tympanic ossicles affecting the 
membrane of the fenestra ovalis. 

The function of the chain of ossicles is to re- 
ceive the impulsions communicated to it at one 
end by the tympanic membrane, and, either by 
the vibrations of its particles or by the oscillations 
of the several bones, to transmit these impulsions 
to the membrane of the fenestra ovalis. Hence 
it provides a medium through which sounds can 
pass in regular order and sequence, since only 
one set of sounds can be transmitted by it at the 



The Ear 105 

same time. But these ossicles are not essential 
to hearing; for it has been demonstrated that 
sounds are transmitted very freely through the two 
fenestras membranes simply by the vibrations of 
the air within the chamber of the middle ear, and 
hearing continues to exist in cases of disease 
causing rigidity or loss of the ossicles. The 
tympanic ossicles are furnished with two mus- 
cles, which tighten the two membranes to which 
they are attached. The contraction of the tensor 
tympani muscle makes the tympanic membrane 
more sensitive to higher notes and less sensitive 
to lower ones, and it also serves to lessen the 
vibrations of the membrane in the case of too 
powerful sounds. 

The function of the Eustachian tube is to 
carry off violent vibrations of air which might 
injure the ear, and to equalize the pressure of 
air on both sides of the tympanic membrane, and 
thus to preserve the clearness of the hearing. 
The mastoid air-cells probably exercise a neutral- 
izing effect upon intense vibrations of air. 

Although the labyrinths are not essential to 
hearing, they seem to have the function of per- 
ceiving in some way the sonorous undulations 
which are imparted through the fenestras to the 
fluids within their cavities; but it is evident 
that the bony labyrinth by reason of its harder 
structure must be less receptive of these undu- 
lations than the softer membranous labyrinth. 



106 The Mind and the Body 

The function of the saccule and utricle of the 
membranous labyrinth, in addition to directing 
some bodily movements, is to give an idea of the 
position of the resting body in space; and the 
function of its semicircular canals is to enable 
the body to maintain its equilibrium. When all 
three of the semicircular canals are injured in 
an animal, it is thrown into continuous and varied 
movements, and loses all power of balancing itself 
in a normal way ; and when these canals are im- 
paired in a man by disease, the patient feels ex- 
treme dizziness, and experiences an inability to 
balance the body. Hence these canals are prob- 
ably the means of directing the movements of the 
head in all planes of space, and, in conjunction 
with the auditory cells, act as sense-organs for the 
guidance of the bodily movements. 

The numerous rods of Corti are like the strings 
of a piano, and strike particular notes in accord- 
ance with the sonorous vibrations they receive, 
and their distinctive function is to render sensible 
to the brain the various musical notes and tones. 
They are the only part of the ear capable of ap- 
preciating the exquisite harmony of a Beethoven 
symphony. 

The function of the epithelial auditory cells of 
the organ of Corti, and also of the saccule, utri- 
cle, and semicircular canals, is probably to per- 
ceive sounds distinctly and exactly rather than 
to determine their musical qualities. Thus they 



The Ear 107 

perceive mere sounds, and not harmony like the 
rods of Corti; but the capacity to perceive 
sounds distinctly and the capacity to distinguish 
harmony must be closely associated, and in fact 
the rods of Corti form part of the organ of Corti 
and lie within it. 1 

The foregoing is an incomplete description of 
the ear and its functions, but it gives sufficient 
data to establish the correspondences of the 
principal parts of the ear. 

The essential parts of the organ of hearing are 
the external ear with its canal, the membranes of 
the tympanum and fenestra? with their appro- 
priate fluids, and the epithelial auditory cells. 
Without the external ear and its canal, there would 
be nothing to receive sonorous vibrations and to 
convey them to the chamber of the middle ear; 
without the membranes, sounds could not pass 
through, but would be obstructed and deadened 
by bony walls ; and without the auditory cells no 
capacity would exist to communicate sonorous 

1 It is possible that the myriads of fibres composing the 
basilar membrane, which underlies the organ of Corti, have 
the function of distinguishing the nature of sounds that are 
heard, especially when the agent producing them is out of 
sight; for instance, whether the sound heard is a bird's song, 
the trotting of a horse, the rustling of a tree, the voice of a 
human being, the barking of a dog, and so on. The cells 
of Hensen in the organ of Corti may have the function of 
listening to distant or indistinct sounds, and the cells of 
Claudius may have the function of perceiving the rhythmic 
or metrical flow of sounds whether in music or poetry. 



io8 The Mind and the Body 

sensations to the brain. All the other parts of the 
ear are supplemental, and constitute no necessary- 
portion of the organ of hearing ; for hearing could 
continue with an entirely different construction 
of the ear, and with all the other parts left out, 
but it could not continue if any of the above- 
named essential parts were absent. Hence these 
essential parts of the ear correspond to the faculty 
of hearing, which is the function of the ear in 
general, while the other portions correspond to 
related but different faculties. 

The external ear corresponds to an outward 
hearing, which listens to sounds and words, but 
does not possess much comprehension of their 
meaning, especially if they have any internal 
meaning. This correspondence is evidenced by 
the function of the external ear ; for it acts merely 
as a funnel to catch sonorous undulations, and 
carries them without modification to the external 
auditory canal. The fleshy lobe at the bottom of 
the external ear corresponds to a good-natured 
listening. 

It was commanded, in order to sanctify Aaron 
and his sons for the priesthood, that a ram 
should be sacrificed as a burnt-offering, and its 
blood be put on the tip of their right ear, and on 
the thumb of their right hand, and on the great 
toe of their right foot * ; and these rites probably 
signified that, as a preparatory basis for preach- 

> Exodus xxix., 20. 



The Ear 109 

ing the truth of good life, ministers should listen 
pleasantly to the members of their flock, and 
should be willing to learn about their inward and 
outward states of mind. 

The external auditory canal corresponds to a 
kind of listening which gathers the particulars 
of what is heard, and then communicates them 
to others in an accurate summary; for this canal 
is expanded at its outer end, and it takes up 
the vibrations of sound received from all parts of 
the external ear, and then transmits them to the 
tympanic membrane through a narrow cartilagi- 
nous and bony space. 

The tympanic membrane corresponds to a 
listening which puts its own construction on what 
it hears. Its twofold function of hearing and 
interpreting is represented by the two sets of 
fibres of which the membrane proper is composed, 
one set being arranged radially for listening, and 
the other near the circumference being arranged 
circularly for thinking. Besides, the membrane 
does not receive the sonorous undulations on its 
outer surface merely, and superficially pass them 
along, like the external ear and the external 
auditory canal; but it communicates them 
through itself by the vibrations of its own sub- 
stance, and thus possesses some power of modify- 
ing them or putting its own construction on 
them. 

The tympanic ossicles and their muscles cor- 



no The Mind and the Body- 
respond to the faculty of discerning whether or 
not the statements presented are admissible as 
evidence in support of a question or contention. 
Such a correspondence appears in their function; 
for these ossicles are placed in a chain from the 
external ear to the internal ear, and readily per- 
ceive any want of sequence in the sounds pre- 
sented, and hence correspondentially they are 
quick to detect any lack of sequence and coherence 
in the statements that are given as evidence of 
the truth of a matter. 

The tensor tympani muscle, which by its con- 
traction makes the tympanic membrane more 
tense and more responsive to high-pitched sounds, 
also tightens the ligaments of the ossicles, and 
renders them better transmitters of sonorous 
vibrations. The primary use of this muscle is to 
arrest and rivet the attention on the intellectual 
aspects of statements, for low notes are more 
expressive of emotion and high notes of intel- 
lectuality; and as the contraction of the tensor 
tympani renders the ossicles better conductors 
of sonorous vibrations, it seems likely that the 
intensity of the vibrations communicated to the 
internal ear by these ossicles depends somewhat 
upon the exercise of the faculty to which they 
correspond. 

The mastoid air-cells seem to correspond to the 
refusal to recognize a person as master, and to 
follow his directions. Such refusal, like the 



The Ear in 

action of the air-cells in neutralizing the force of 
violent vibrations of the air in the middle ear, 
would tend to nullify the effect of strenuous com- 
mands upon the mind. 

The Eustachian tube corresponds to the faculty 
of perceiving whether or not the commands heard 
should be obeyed. The tube communicates with 
the pharynx, which, as was stated above, cor- 
responds to the faculty of not obeying commands 
unless they are given by those who have the right- 
ful authority ; and the Eustachian tube is the part 
of this faculty which perceives whether the com- 
mands are given by the person who has the right- 
ful authority, and whether they should be obeyed. 
Such perception performs on the spiritual plane 
of mind the same functions that this tube per- 
forms on the natural plane of matter; for it 
holds open the connection between the hearing of 
commands and the doing of them or the refusal 
to do them, and it enables the mind to maintain 
a normal and clear comprehension as to where its 
duty lies with reference to commands. 

The yielding to commands is like the carrying 
off of the violent vibrations of air, which is one 
of the functions of the Eustachian tube. When 
commands are not yielded to, it is probable that 
the tube does not carry off the vibrations, but 
that their effect is neutralized by the action of the 
mastoid air-cells. 

Swedenborg tells us that the speech of the 



ii2 The Mind and the Body 

people of the Most Ancient Church was com- 
municated to the ear not by an external way- 
through the vibrations of articulate sound striking 
upon the tympanic membrane, and being trans- 
mitted to the internal ear by the chain of ossicles, 
but by an internal way through the Eustachian 
tube ; and that thus they were able to express the 
feelings of the mind and the ideas of thought 
more fully than could possibly be done by ar- 
ticulate sounds and sonorous words . 1 This method 
of speech by internal and tacit respiration may 
have been partly due to the fact that the faculty 
of intellectually examining statements to ascer- 
tain whether or not they constitute a real chain 
of evidence could not have been developed to any 
great extent in the mind of the infancy of the 
race; whereas the faculty of wise perception as 
to whose commands should be obeyed must have 
been a prominent trait in the character of this 
primitive people, whose very heavenly life de- 
pended upon their wise obedience to the com- 
mands of the Lord. 

The membranes of the fenestra ovalis and the 
fenestra rotunda correspond, respectively, to an in- 
tellectually interested listening and to an emotional 
or a sympathetic listening. These faculties form 
as it were fenestras, or windows, of communication : 
for unless we have some intellectual or emotional 
interest in a subject, we do not care to listen 

i Heavenly Arcana, 1118. 



The Ear 113 

about it; and even if we do passively listen, it is 
in an external way, and the words do not pene- 
trate very far into the mind. 

The bony labyrinth corresponds to the faculty 
of common sense. This is a hard, incisive faculty, 
which does not enter into all the details of a 
question, but views it in a general way according 
to previous experience. Although such a faculty 
listens to words and arguments, it quickly grasps 
their inward pith, and, like the bony labyrinth, 
does not allow itself to be much impressed by 
sophistries and mere words. Hence it is well 
represented by the bony labyrinth, which does 
not follow all the multitudinous folds of the 
membranous labyrinth, and the spiral lamina of 
which projects inward sharply and incisively. 
The cochlea of the bony labyrinth corresponds to 
common sense as to feeling; its vestibule, to 
common sense as to thought and knowledge ; and 
its semicircular canals, to common sense as to 
expressions. 

The membranous labyrinth corresponds to the 
faculty of comparison. Unlike the faculty repre- 
sented by the bony labyrinth, the faculty of com- 
parison is fond of entering into the particulars of 
a matter, and it balances all the considerations 
for and against, and then decides in favor of the 
side which has the preponderance of arguments. 
The cochlea of this labyrinth corresponds to 
comparison founded on feeling; the saccule, to 



ii4 The Mind and the Body 

comparison founded on thought ; the saccus endo- 
lymphaticus between the saccule and the utricle, 
to comparison of what is heard with what was 
known before; and the utricle, to comparison 
founded on knowledge. The superior semicir- 
cular canal corresponds to precise definition, the 
posterior semicircular canal corresponds to as- 
certaining by mental comparison whether or not 
the words used exactly express the thought, and 
the external semicircular canal corresponds to 
more or less eloquent expression by means of a 
swift comparison between words and the ideas in 
the mind, and a selection of the most appropriate 
language. 

A great many of our conclusions about sounds 
are founded on comparison. We estimate the dis- 
tance of sounds by comparing their impressions 
with what we have already learned of the dis- 
tance of sounds of similar intensity ; and hence we 
are often mistaken about the distance when the 
sounds are indistinct, and when the ear is mis- 
led by the simulations of ventriloquism. We also 
determine the direction of sounds by ascertaining 
through comparison upon which ear they fall 
more distinctly. 

The saccule and utricle enable us to judge of 
the position of the resting body in space, because 
we judge of our position with reference to others 
by comparing their ideas with our own. The 
semicircular canals assist the head and body to 



The Ear 115 

maintain their equilibrium, and to balance them- 
selves in a normal way ; for the faculty of defining 
and giving accurate expression to our ideas on a 
subject helps us to know just where we stand 
and just what we think, and if the ability of 
clearly defining and exactly and appropriately 
expressing our ideas is lost, we become unable to 
fix our position definitely on any question either 
to ourselves or to others. Moreover, it is the 
function of this faculty to balance words and 
phrases in the mind so as to determine their rela- 
tive fitness, and the kinds of comparison repre- 
sented by the saccule and utricle perform the 
same function with reference to opposing argu- 
ments ; and the mental capacity to balance argu- 
ments and expressions is no doubt the source of 
the ability of these organs to balance the head 
and the body. 

The rods of Corti correspond to the faculty of 
perceiving harmony or tune, a correspondence 
which is amply corroborated by their musical 
function. They are the inmost of all the parts of 
the ear; for the love of perceiving the harmony 
of sounds is the most interior of the different 
kinds of hearing. 

The epithelial auditory cells in the cochlea, the 
saccule, the utricle, and the semicircular canals 
correspond to the faculty of listening intently, 
acutely, and in a purely intellectual way; for 
these cells perceive sounds distinctly, and convey 



n6 The Mind and the Body 

their accurate impressions through appropriate 
nerves to the brain. 

Although the cochlea represents the emotional 
part of the faculty of comparison, as is shown by 
the fact that it is fully developed only in mam- 
mals, which are types of the emotions, the 
auditory cells within the cochlea are connected 
by a branch of the auditory nerve with the cere- 
brum; whereas the auditory cells within the 
saccule, utricle, and semicircular canals, which 
represent the intellectual part of the faculty of 
comparison, are by another branch of the audi- 
tory nerve joined to the cerebellum. The sig- 
nificance of this arrangement may be that the 
cerebral auditory activity enables us to perceive 
and distinguish in an intellectual way the sounds 
which affect our emotional natures, while the 
cerebellar auditory activity enables us to per- 
ceive sounds for the guidance of our movements 
and actions; for the cerebrum is the intellectual 
organ of the brain, and the cerebellum is its 
emotional organ, which assists in co-ordinating 
the bodily movements, and which creates the 
necessary stimulus for action. 

Some of the above correspondences are con- 
firmed by Swedenborg, who says that the ear 
corresponds to hearing and obedience, that they 
who attend but little to the meaning of what is 
said relate to the cartilaginous and bony parts of 
the external ear, and that they who belong to the 



The Ear 117 

interiors of the ear are logicians and metaphysi- 
cians who have the sight of inner hearing, and 
obey what its spirit there dictates, and express 
these dictates fittingly. 1 The fact that the mem- 
branous labyrinth corresponds to the faculty of 
comparison explains why Aristotle, who invented 
many abstruse philosophical terms to define his 
ideas, belongs to the province of the ear; 2 for 
Aristotle was a native of Greece, and Greece cor- 
responds to the faculty of comparison. 3 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the external 
ear is represented by the Lesser Antilles islands 
of the West Indies, and its lobule is represented 
by the island of Trinidad. The fierce volcanoes 
in this group of islands, however, cannot repre- 
sent the passiveness of the external ear, but they 
probably represent a part of the temporal bone, 
which is so closely associated with the ear. 

The external auditory canal is represented by 
the island of Cuba, and the tympanic membrane 
by the island of Hayti. 

The tympanic ossicles and their muscles are 
represented by Denmark, Seeland constituting 
the malleus and Jutland the stapes. 

The membrane of the fenestra ovalis is repre- 
sented by the island of Porto Rico, and the 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 2072, 4656, 4658, 9397; Apocalypse 
Explained, 14. 

2 Idem, 4658. 

3 Psychology of the Nations, p. 128. 



n8 The Mind and the Body 

membrane of the fenestra rotunda by the island 
of Jamaica. 

The bony labyrinth is represented by the 
Netherlands, and the membranous labyrinth is 
represented by Greece and its islands. 

The rods of Corti are represented by the Santa 
Cruz islands, and the epithelial auditory cells are 
represented by the Bahama islands. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the ear are arranged in regular order, from the 
outer societies who passively receive the im- 
pressions of sound, to the inner societies who dis- 
tinctly perceive the sounds and transmit their 
sensations to the societies of the brain. 

The societies of the external ear and its canal 
love to listen to words and sounds, and to com- 
municate them in a summary way to others. 
Their nature is external and passive ; and although 
they like to take in and to communicate what 
they hear, they attend but little to any inward 
meanings, but leave these for the attention of the 
more interior societies of the ear. The societies 
of the tympanic membrane are more interior 
than those of the external ear; for besides listen- 
ing to others, they put their own construction on 
what is said. 

The societies of the tympanic ossicles love to 
decide judicially in regard to statements heard, 
and to determine whether such statements cohere 
in a series so as to constitute a chain of evidence, 



The Ear 119 

and whether they have any real intrinsic bearing 
on the question or contention in support of 
which they are adduced. These angels will not 
permit themselves to be deterred from their pur- 
pose by emphatic assertion or strong sentimental- 
ity, but put aside all manifestations of mere 
feeling that are likely to influence their intel- 
lectual perceptions; and in this characteristic 
they resemble the tensor tympani muscle, which 
tightens the membrane and so dulls the hearing 
when too intense sounds strike the ear. 

The societies of the Eustachian tube and the 
mastoid air-cells assist each other in their activi- 
ties; for it is the wisdom of the angels of the 
Eustachian tube to determine whether the com- 
mands heard should be obeyed or not, and if they 
are not to be obeyed, the angels of the mastoid 
air-cells lend their support to antagonize the 
command and to render it of no effect. The 
societies of the Eustachian tube reach down to 
those of the pharynx, and give them wise counsel 
for the guidance of their actions with reference 
to the commands of others. 

The societies of the fenestra ovalis and fenestra 
rotunda serve to keep open, by their interested 
intellectual and sympathetic hearing, the ways 
of communication to the inner provinces of the 
ear, where the inward significance of sounds and 
statements is perceived. 

The societies of the bony labyrinth always 



120 The Mind and the Body 

exercise their common sense about the state- 
ments they hear ; and their incisive intellectuality 
and their habit of viewing things in a general 
way from the light of experience enable them to 
grasp quickly the real substance and value of 
an argument, and make it very difficult for 
others to mislead them by specious words or 
rhetoric. 

The societies of the membranous labyrinth love 
to hear new ideas, to compare what they hear 
with what they knew before, to deliberate on the 
pros and cons of all questions, and to decide them 
on their merits irrespective of previous experi- 
ence. They are also fond of comparing different 
things, and of thus bringing out more clearly 
the distinctive quality of each. Some of these 
societies, answering to the semicircular canals, 
delight in giving precise definition and accurate 
expression to their ideas, especially if their pro- 
ductions are of a philosophical nature ; and others 
love to clothe their thoughts and feelings in ap- 
propriate and glowing language. The angels of 
the membranous labyrinth are doubtless inclined 
at times to elaborate too finely spun arguments, 
and it is the duty of the angels of the bony 
labyrinth to perceive and to point out the in- 
substantiality and fallacious nature of such argu- 
ments ; but, on the other hand, the angels of the 
bony labyrinth are sometimes apt to be too ex- 
ternal in their conclusions, and too much in- 



The Ear 121 

fluenced by previous experience, and it then 
becomes the task of the angels of the mem- 
branous labyrinth to show that they have not 
dealt with the question at issue on its true 
merits. 

The societies of the epithelial auditory cells 
listen intellectually, intently, and acutely to all 
the sounds that reach them, and then accurately 
communicate their impressions, through the 
societies of the auditory nerve, for the informa- 
tion of the provinces of the brain with which they 
are connected. In the centre of these auditory 
societies are the societies of the rods of Corti, who 
possess a keen sense of the musical relationship 
of sounds, and who love to perceive all the tuneful 
melodies that come to the ears of heaven. They 
are the heavenly musicians; they love abstract 
harmony, and strive to make their musical com- 
positions beautifully melodious and free from all 
dissonant sounds. 

A great variety of sounds from many quarters 
must come to the societies of the ears of heaven. 
They hear the prayers and supplications of good 
men upon earth * ; they hear the authoritative 
teachings which are inspired by the angels of the 
lungs, and also the heavenly chorals sung by these 
angels; they hear the many words and state- 
ments which are uttered by the societies of the 
organs of speech, and which are expressive of the 
1 Heavenly Arcana, 9202. 



122 The Mind and the Body 

states of mind of the whole heaven; and they 
perhaps first hear the oral words of inspiration 
and revelation spoken at times by the Lord to 
the angels of the heart of the Greatest Man. 




THE EYE 

THE system of the eye falls into three general 
divisions, consisting of the eyelids, the 
lachrymal apparatus, and the eyeball. 

The eyelids with their lashes form a curtain for 
the eye, protecting it from extraneous substances, 
and shutting out the light when desired. 

The lachrymal apparatus extends from the orbit 
of the eye to the inferior turbinate bone of the 
nose. The lachrymal gland, which is lodged in the 
upper and outer part of the orbital cavity, secretes 
tears, and its secretion issues upon the eye 
through several ducts in the upper eyelids. 
From the surface of the eye the tears are drained 
into canals, which converge to form the lachrymal 
sac, situated on the lachrymal bone, and through 
this sac and the nasal duct, which is a continua- 
tion of it, they are finally conveyed into the nasal 
cavity. Closely connected with the lachrymal 
system is the conjunctiva, a delicate membrane 
which lines the inner surface of the eyelids and 
the outer surface of the eye, and thus conjoins 
them . The function of the lachrymal gland , under 
123 



124 The Mind and the Body 

ordinary circumstances, is to keep the conjunctiva 
moist and clear by its secretions; but under the 
influence of painful emotions more fluid accumu- 
lates than can be conveyed away by the canals, 
and overflows the eyes in the form of tears. 

The structures within the eyeball are encased 
in three coats ; the outermost is the sclerotic, the 
middle is the choroid, and the innermost is the 
retina. The sclerotic is a tough, firm case of 
fibrous tissue, the greater part of which is white 
and opaque, but in front the coat becomes trans- 
parent and is called the cornea. The choroid is 
highly vascular in structure, and contains numer- 
ous pigment cells. The retina covers only the 
hinder two-thirds of the eyeball ; in it lie the rods 
and cones which constitute the essential part of 
the organ of vision, the functions of the accessory 
portions of the eye being mainly to bring the 
rays of light to a focus upon the rods and cones. 
The casings of the eye are kept in shape by the 
aqueous and vitreous humors, with which they 
are filled. The aqueous humor is scarcely more 
than water holding a few organic and saline sub- 
stances in solution, and it occupies a small 
chamber in the forward part of the eyeball; 
while the vitreous humor is a transparent, jelly- 
like substance, and takes up a large space in the 
hinder part of the eye. The two humors are 
separated from each other by the transparent 
crystalline lens, which is denser than either of the 



The Eye 125 

humors, and capable of refracting light more 
strongly. At the sides of the crystalline lens is 
the ciliary muscle, which by its action in relation 
to the lens adapts the eye for seeing objects at 
various distances. The iris is situated in front 
of the lens and in the midst of the aqueous 
humor. It consists chiefly of circular and radi- 
ating muscular fibres, which are arranged about 
a central aperture, — the pupil. By the operation 
of these fibres the size of the pupil can be 
diminished or increased, and consequently less 
or more light admitted into the eye. Pigment 
cells are scattered throughout the iris and the 
eyeball, and upon the arrangement of these cells 
in the iris depends the distinctive color of the 
eyes in different individuals. 

The ear is constructed to receive the vibrations 
of the air, which as the third atmosphere cor- 
responds to spiritual knowledge and conduct; 
but the eye is fitted to respond to the activities 
of a higher atmosphere, the ether, which as 
the middle atmosphere corresponds to spiritual 
thought. Hence it is that Swedenborg says that 
"the sense of sight corresponds to the affection 
for understanding and being wise, because the 
sight of the body altogether corresponds to the 
sight of its spirit, thus to the understanding." * 

The eyelids in relation to the eye itself hold 
a position similar to that which the external ear 

» Heavenly Arcana, 4405. 



126 The Mind and the Body- 
has with reference to the internal ear, for the 
eyelids guard the entrance to the eye, and form an 
outward covering for it. The eyelids correspond 
to the faculty of scrutinizing objects outwardly in 
order to ascertain what they are. Such a faculty 
is well adapted to become an outward and a pro- 
tective covering for the more internal visual 
faculty of viewing objects and thoughts to de- 
termine their intrinsic nature, so far as the eye- 
sight and the mental sight can discern it. The 
lashes of the eyelids correspond to expressions in 
regard to the outward nature of objects. Because 
of the correspondential relationship between the 
eyes and the eyelids, they are mentioned to- 
gether in the Bible where the Psalmist says of 
the Lord: 

" His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men." ' 

The Lord's eyelids try the children of men, be- 
cause He accurately sees and truly designates the 
outward qualities of those whom He beholds; 
and men are put to the test by the Divine judg- 
ment thus expressed as to their real outward 
natures. 

The entire lachrymal apparatus is connected 
with the formation and flow of tears ; and the shed- 
ding of tears, we are told, corresponds to grief of 
mind. 2 The lachrymal gland, which secretes the 
tears, corresponds to sad perceptions. The con- 

« Psalms xi., 4. 2 Apocalypse Explained, 484. 



The Eye 127 

junctiva, which lines the eyelids and the eye, and 
which is moistened by the tearful secretions, cor- 
responds to the faculty of seeing things from a sad 
point of view. The lachrymal sac is situated on the 
lachrymal bone, which, as was stated above, 1 cor- 
responds to a sorrowful state of mind caused by 
the contemplation of the sad things of human 
life; and as this sac collects the tears from the 
eyes, it evidently corresponds to the knowledge 
of the sad things of life. By the nasal duct, 
which opens below the inferior turbinate bone, 
the tears are conveyed to the inferior meatus of 
the nose, where they perhaps give rise to psycho- 
logical perceptions of sorrowful states of mind in 
others ; for the inferior turbinate bone corresponds 
to the perception and knowledge of interior or 
psychological states of mind. The function of 
tears is to keep the eye moist and clear; and in 
line with this function it is true that an individual 
requires a capacity for grief, and even some 
personal experience of it, to enable him to appre- 
ciate and to see clearly the sad and pathetic cir- 
cumstances with which human life is crowded. 
Such a capacity is also requisite for perceiving 
adequately the range of mournful emotions in the 
souls of others. Ordinarily the secretion of the 
lachrymal gland just suffices to moisten the eye 
and keep it clear, for a tinge of sadness is suffi- 
cient to make the mind fresh and clear in its 

' Page 23. 



128 The Mind and the Body 

vision of the world of human affairs; but when 
tears form rapidly and overflow the eyes, it is an 
outward sign of deep sorrow and grief of mind. 
Tears are sometimes shed when the mind is 
strongly moved by experiencing or witnessing 
great and unexpected joy, and the tears in these 
cases seem to arise from the pathos of the sudden 
transformation from grief and despair to radiant 
joy. 

Although all the parts of the eye combine to 
make a harmonious and efficient whole, the three 
coats, the ciliary muscle and processes, the 
aqueous humor, and the iris constitute, cor- 
respondentially considered, the eye proper; while 
the crystalline lens, the vitreous humor, and the 
pigment cells represent qualities of mind which 
really belong to other faculties. The eye cor- 
responds to the faculty of seeing things in the 
light of the Divine truth; for the sun represents 
the Lord, and its light the Divine truth. 

The retina corresponds to seeing things in an 
emotional and a perceptive way-; the choroid, to 
seeing them in a thoughtful way; and the scle- 
rotic, to seeing them in a cognizant way. Hence 
the transparent cornea, as a part of the sclerotic, 
corresponds to clearness of cognizant vision. 

The fluidity of the aqueous humor shows that 
it corresponds to the reception and knowledge of 
literal visual images. The crystalline lens, which 
has the function of receiving distinctly the light 



The Eye 129 

reflected from objects, corresponds to the faculty 
of taking distinct note of the outward char- 
acteristics of things. The correspondence of the 
crystalline lens differs from that of the eyelids, 
in that the lens does not, like the eyelids, seek to 
ascertain by accurate scrutiny the outward nature 
of the object viewed, but endeavors to take dis- 
tinct note of all the external facts in regard to the 
object of vision. The greater solidity of the 
vitreous humor as compared with the aqueous 
humor indicates that it is more formulative in its 
nature, and strives for something besides mere 
literal images; it seems to correspond to the 
faculty of receiving distinct images from objects 
in order to form a mental idea of their appearance. 
The ciliary muscle and processes correspond to 
the faculty of seeing things with reference to their 
confirmation of preconceived theories. As the 
ciliary muscle adapts the eye for seeing objects at 
various distances, so such a faculty is able to 
adjust the mind's vision and to bring its scrutiny 
to bear upon facts near or remote, familiar or un- 
familiar ; for all facts can be viewed with reference 
to their confirmation or non-confirmation of a 
given theory. It is doubtless due to this cor- 
respondential capacity of the eye to see con- 
firmations of its views in all the phenomena of 
life and nature that the Lord declares : 

"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore thine 
eye be single, thy whole body will be full of light; 



130 The Mind and the Body 

but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body will be full 
of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be 
darkness, how great is that darkness!" l 

For if the single desire of the mental vision is to 
see things as they really are, the whole mind will 
be full of light; but if the sight is adjusted so as 
to distort all facts into confirmations of false 
theories, what ought to be a source of light be- 
comes a source of accumulating darkness. 

The circular fibres of the iris correspond to the 
faculty of giving personal supervision, and its 
radial fibres correspond to the faculty of giving 
personal inspection. The contraction of the radial 
fibres enlarges the pupil and admits more light 
into the eye, for the faculty of merely inspecting 
what has been done does not require any great 
concentration of the mind, and takes only ob- 
servant views of objects ; but the contraction of the 
circular fibres diminishes the size of the pupil, for 
the personal oversight and supervision of tasks 
needs a concentration of the mind on each par- 
ticular thing to be performed. It is perhaps in 
keeping with this distinction that the pupil is 
dilated when the eye is accommodated for near 
objects, and hence for close inspection; but is con- 
stricted when the eye is adjusted for distant 
objects, and hence for general supervision. The 
pigment cells in the iris, upon the arrangement 

' Matthew vi., 22. 



The Eye 131 

of which the color of the eye depends, seem to 
correspond to the individual standpoint in view- 
ing things. The color of eyes differs just as the 
standpoints of individuals differ. The usual 
colors of the eyes are gray, blue, and brown. 
Gray is composed of white and black; and there- 
fore gray eyes correspond to an obscure, general 
point of view, because black corresponds to 
natural obscurity, and white to general truth 
without discrimination into component parts, for 
white includes all colors. Blue eyes correspond 
to an intellectually thoughtful point of view, for 
blue is the color of intellectual thoughtfulness. 
Brown is made up of red, yellow, and blue; and 
brown eyes therefore correspond to a point of 
view that partakes of the emotional feeling of 
red, the emotional activity of yellow, and the 
intellectual thoughtfulness of blue. In albinos 
the pigment is entirely absent from the iris; and 
this fact shows that they do not view objects 
from any distinctive standpoint, but only in a 
general, undiscriminating way. The same general- 
ness of perception and expression is indicated by 
their white skin and white hair. 

Although physiologists have not yet determined 
where the perception of color is located in the eye, 
it is most likely that this perception resides in the 
pigment cells scattered through the eye's coats. 
These cells, therefore, may not unreasonably be re- 
garded as corresponding to the perception of color. 



132 The Mind and the Body 

The power of the eye to see things as they really 
are in the light of the Divine truth is well illus- 
trated in the following quotation : 

"Among the wonderful things which exist in the 
other life is also this fact, that when the angels of 
heaven look into evil spirits, the spirits have an ap- 
pearance entirely different from that when seen 
among themselves. When the evil spirits and genii 
are among themselves and in their fatuous light, 
which, as was said, is like that from a coal fire, they 
appear to themselves in a human form, and even, in 
their phantasies, not without beauty. But when they 
are looked into by the angels of heaven, that light is 
instantly dispelled, and they appear with an entirely 
different countenance, each according to his charac- 
ter. Some appear dusky and black like devils, some 
with ghastly faces like corpses, some almost without 
any face, and in place of it something hairy, some 
like interlocking rows of teeth, some like skeletons; 
and, what is more wonderful, some appear like mon- 
sters, the deceitful like serpents, and the very de- 
ceitful like vipers, and others in other ways. But as 
soon as the angels remove their sight from them, 
they appear in their previous form, which they have 
in their own light. The angels look into the evil as 
often as they observe that they are striving to rise 
out of their hells into the world of spirits, and are 
intending to do harm to others; hence they are de- 
tected and cast back again. The cause of the angelic 
sight having so great an efficacy is that there is a 
correspondence between intellectual and ocular sight; 



The Eye 133 

and consequently there is a clearness in their vision, 
by virtue of which the infernal light is dispelled, and 
the evil appear of the form and character which they 
really are." * 

We are told that "evil spirits cannot endure 
that angels should look at them, for they are in- 
stantly tortured and fall into a swoon." 2 The 
reason why the mere look of angels should pro- 
duce such an effect upon evil spirits seems to be 
that when angels look at others they project 
something of their own personality upon them; 
and when they meet evil spirits, as the angels 
cannot tolerate the atmosphere of evil life they 
seek to dominate it and keep it away from them, 
and this they do by hardening themselves against 
the spheres of the wicked, and by projecting their 
angelic personalities upon them in a repressive 
way. As the presence of anything heavenly is 
torment to the evil spirits, when the angels look 
at them in such a dominating and forceful way, 
they must needs be tortured by the very look. 
Such dominating and repressive gaze of the eye 
seems to be exerted chiefly through the macula 
lutea, — the yellow spot in the centre of the 
retina, which seems to correspond to the domina- 
tive projection of one's personality to others by 
means of the look. It is no doubt the function 
of the heavenly societies who belong to this spot 
in the Greatest Man, by their dominative and 

> Heavenly Arcana, 4533. 2 Idem, 4299. 



134 The Mind and the Body 

projective gaze, to drive back into their places 
the devils who attempt to rise out of hell in order 
to do harm to others. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the eyelids 
are represented by the Aland Islands, lying be- 
tween Sweden and Finland. The three coats of 
the eye are represented by Norway and Sweden, 
excepting the lower extremity of Sweden; the 
cornea seems to be represented by Stockholm 
and the surrounding territory. The ciliary mus- 
cle and processes are represented by the southern 
peninsula of Sweden, called Gotaland. The cir- 
cular fibres of the iris are represented by the island 
of Gothland, and its radial fibres by the island of 
Oland, both in the Baltic Sea. The aqueous hu- 
mor is represented by the Baltic Sea, the crystal- 
line lens by the island of Tahiti in the Pacific 
Ocean, and the vitreous humor by the Caspian 
Sea. The pigment cells in the eye are repre- 
sented by the Fiji Islands. 

In the Greatest Man of the universe, the cornea 
is probably represented by the earth not far from 
the sidereal equator, the spirits of which Sweden- 
borg visited, and which he says has relation to the 
keenness of external vision. 1 It was perhaps the 
correspondential affinity between his own birth- 
place, Stockholm, and this far distant planet 
that led to Swedenborg's intercourse with spirits 
from it in the other world. 

" Heavenly Arcana, 9969. 



The Eye 135 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the eyelids are the angels who love to scrutinize 
objects accurately, so as to know their outward 
quality. They like to know who the persons are 
that they see, and what are the names of the ob- 
jects they behold; and they are fond of giving 
expression to their opinions of the outward nature 
of things as gauged by the sight. As these 
angels are more external than the angels of 
the eye, they are well adapted to protect the 
more interior societies and to facilitate their 
operations. 

The lachrymal societies are the angels who are 
easily moved to grief, and who are inclined to 
view the miseries and infirmities of human life 
through a veil of sadness. By their capacity for 
grief and their perception of the pathetic side of 
things, they clarify the vision of the other angels 
of the eye, making them more appreciative of the 
troubles of others and more tender-hearted in the 
way they regard their fellow men. The influence 
of the societies of the lachrymal gland and con- 
junctiva extends to the societies of the lachrymal 
sac and lachrymal bone, who gather the sad facts 
of human experience and are affected with sorrow 
at the contemplation of them. Through the 
sad thoughts of the societies of the nasal duct the 
perceptions of the lachrymal societies are com- 
municated to the societies of the nose, and are 
helpful to the societies of the inferior turbinate 



136 The Mind and the Body 

bone, who love to perceive the whole range of 
psychological emotions in others. 

The societies of the coats of the eye wish to see 
all things as they truly are in the light of the 
Divine truth, some seeing in a more emotional 
and perceptive way, and others seeing in more 
thoughtful and more purely cognizant ways. 
The angels of the cornea desire to see everything 
clearly without the least obscurity. The more 
external of these angels no doubt love to exercise 
merely physical sight in seeing objects; but the 
more internal love to use the sight of the mind, 
and to view all statements and theorems in the 
light of the Divine truth. 

The societies of the pigment cells in the coats 
of the eye are the angels who are fond of per- 
ceiving and discriminating the whole gamut of 
colors and of presenting pleasant combinations 
of colorings. The more interior of these angels 
probably like to see things in the different aspects 
of truth to which colors correspond. Sweden- 
borg speaks of a certain spirit, who could present 
delightful colors of every kind and beautifully 
colored forms, as relating to the coats of the eye; 
and in the following passage he says that colors, 
symbolizing the variations of intelligence and 
wisdom, belong to the provinces of the eye : 

"Colors also are seen in the other life, which in 
lustre and brilliancy so far exceed the brightness of 



The Eye 137 

colors in the world, that there is scarcely any com- 
parison. They exist from the variegation of light 
and shade there; and because it is intelligence and 
wisdom from the Lord that appears there as light 
before the eyes of angels and spirits, and at the 
same time inwardly illuminates their understanding, 
therefore colors in the other life are in their essence 
variations, or, as it may be said, modifications, of in- 
telligence and wisdom. Colors, not only those with 
which flowers are adorned, the atmospheres illum- 
ined, and rainbows varied, but also those which are 
presented distinctly in other forms, have been so 
often seen by me in the other life that the different 
times could scarcely be enumerated. Their lustre is 
from the truth of intelligence, and their brilliancy is 
from the good of wisdom; and the colors themselves 
are from the brightness and obscurity of these. Thus 
they exist from light and shade, like colorings in the 
world. ... In general, colors in the other life have 
lustre and partake of brightness so far as they exist 
from the truth of intelligence, and have brilliancy 
and partake of crimson-red so far as they originate in 
the good of wisdom. Those which thence derive their 
origin belong also to the provinces of the eyes." 1 

The societies of the aqueous humor love to re- 
ceive and to store up literal impressions of sight. 
They are content merely with definite images, and 
make no effort to notice distinctly the attributes 
of objects of sight, nor to formulate visual images 
into ideas. 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 4530. 



138 The Mind and the Body 

The societies of the crystalline lens are they 
who delight in taking visual note of the out- 
ward characteristics of objects, and in impress- 
ing these characteristics strongly and distinctly 
on the mind. In consequence of such dis- 
tinct mental notice they are able to remember 
clearly the external attributes of whatever they 
see. 

Closely connected with the societies of the 
lens are the societies of the ciliary muscle and 
processes, whose bent is to look at things in order 
to find confirmations of preconceived theories; 
and some of these societies regard statements pre- 
sented merely to see whether they agree or not 
with doctrines already accepted. The societies 
of the crystalline lens no doubt co-operate with 
the ciliary societies and gather clear knowledge 
of the outward characteristics of things for their 
use. The ciliary societies must love to see con- 
firmations of the views held by the various 
heavenly societies in all the facts of nature and 
the Bible, and they add greatly to the wisdom and 
certitude of the entire heaven by collecting large 
stores of confirmatory evidence. 

The correspondence of the societies of the 
ciliary body explains why, as Swedenborg says, 
some of the spirits who have reference to the ear 
"are intimately conjoined with those who belong 
to the internal sight, from whom they are dis- 
tinguished by not having so much discernment, 



The Eye 139 

but assenting to them as passive" 1 ; for the 
countries and islands of our planet represent in a 
modified way the faculties of the brain, and the 
islands of Denmark, corresponding to the faculty 
of determining the validity of evidence, adjoin 
the Swedish peninsula of Gotaland, correspond- 
ing to the faculty of seeing things with reference 
to their confirmation of theories. Although the 
lands of our earth represent primarily the facul- 
ties of the brain, they also represent the parts of 
the body; for the latter are outward manifesta- 
tions of the former. Hence, while in the body 
the ciliary muscle and processes are entirely 
separate from the auditory ossicles, the faculties 
to which they correspond lie close to each other 
in the brain, as is evident from the proximity of 
the Danish islands to Sweden. Moreover, the 
ciliary societies of the eye perform the more active 
and original work of accumulating evidence and 
confirmations for theories, while the societies of 
the auditory ossicles render the more passive and 
less original service of determining whether the 
confirmations so collected can be regarded as true 
evidence. 

The societies of the vitreous humor do not, like 
the societies of the aqueous humor, receive literal 
images from objects and rest satisfied with these; 
but they obtain distinct visual impressions in 
order to frame for the mind an adequate idea of 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 4653. 



140 The Mind and the Body 

the appearance of objects. To the societies of the 
vitreous humor the heavens are indebted for their 
mental ideas of the objects of sight; and these 
ideas, when communicated to the highest heaven, 
are doubtless transmuted into the correspond- 
ences of the objects seen, for the correspondence 
of an object can be perceived from a clear visual 
idea of its structure and form. Such transforma- 
tion of distinct visual ideas of objects into per- 
ceptions of their correspondences is probably 
effected in the province of the fifth ventricle, 
which seems to be the cerebral correlative of the 
vitreous humor. 

The societies of the iris are the angels who love 
to inspect and to supervise things personally, 
and they are no doubt often entrusted with duties 
requiring a great deal of direct examination and 
oversight. Swedenborg tells us that the infants 
who die are taken up in the other world into the 
provinces of the eyes, in order that they may be 
under the immediate view and auspices of the 
Lord ! ; and as the societies of the iris are very 
proficient in immediate inspection and oversight, 
it is possible that the little children in the eyes 
are under their general charge. 

The societies of the pigment cells of the iris 
seem to be the angels who like to view objects and 
facts from some particular and distinctive stand- 
point, and not from a general, undiscriminative 

> Heaven and Hell, 333. 



The Eye 141 

point of view. These angels determine the dif- 
ferent standpoints from which the heavens view 
the same set of facts, and, taken together, they 
constitute the collective visual individuality of 
the whole heaven. 

The societies of the rods and cones in the retina 
are the angels who love to look intently at ob- 
jects, and to take vivid impressions of their ap- 
pearance, the societies of the rods being more 
emotional, and those of the cones more intel- 
lectual. Through these angels all the impres- 
sions of sight received by the several societies 
of the eyes are communicated to the socie- 
ties of the optic nerve, by which they are ade- 
quately conveyed and reported to the brain of 
heaven for the information and use of the celes- 
tial angels. 

Swedenborg has a great deal to say of the 
different provinces of the eyes, and speaks of 
several kinds of heavens in them. He describes 
a paradisal heaven, where are variously colored 
atmospheres, and where the whole air glitters 
as if from gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, 
flowers in minute forms, and numberless other 
objects, and also mentions a rainbow heaven, 
where appear very beautiful rainbows, great and 
small, variegated with the most lustrous colors. 1 
The various remarks of Swedenborg on the sub- 
ject have been admirably applied by Worcester 

> Heavenly Arcana, 4412, 4528 



H 2 The Mind and the Body- 

to the heavenly societies of the eyes, 1 but Sweden- 
borg's statements are scarcely definite enough 
to admit of very reliable interpretation in this 
direction. 

1 Physiological Correspondences, pp. 304-311. 




THE NOSE 

THE nose is composed mainly of cartilage and 
bone, and its chamber is divided into two 
compartments by a central partition or septum. 
At its upper end the nose is separated from the 
brain by the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone, 
through numerous perforations of which branches 
of the olfactory nerve pass, to be distributed to 
the upper part of the sensitive membrane lining 
the inside of the nasal chambers ; and at the lower 
end the nose is separated from the cavity of the 
mouth by the palate. The openings of the nos- 
trils are continued back over the palate into the 
pharynx, and afford an air passage through the 
nose to the throat and lungs. The lower portion 
of the nose is made up for the most part of car- 
tilages; but in the upper portion the inner and 
outer walls are formed largely by the nasal bone, 
the nasal process of the superior maxillary bone, 
the ethmoid bone, and the inferior turbinate 
bone. 

The interior of the nose below the superior 
turbinated process of the ethmoid bone is covered 
143 



144 The Mind and the Body 

by ordinary ciliated mucous membrane; but in 
the region of this process the epithelium loses its 
cilia and becomes specially modified into columnar 
and spindle-shaped cells, which are connected 
with terminal filaments of the olfactory nerve. 
In these epithelial cells of the olfactory mucous 
membrane resides the sense of smell, which is 
excited by odorous particles inspired with the 
air being dissolved or suspended in the fluid over- 
lying the membrane, and coming into contact 
with these epithelial cells, which transmit their 
sensations to the brain through the olfactory 
nerve. In the olfactory region of the mucous 
membrane are imbedded numerous tubular glands, 
the secretions of which serve to moisten the 
membrane; and as a proper amount of fluid is 
necessary for the production of an accurate sense 
of smell, these glands are an important adjunct 
to the formation of olfactory sensations. Many 
other glands, resembling clusters of grapes, are 
located in the lower or respiratory part of the 
mucous membrane. 

The sense of smell is exceedingly delicate, and 
it can detect the presence of odorous substances 
and vapors in the air even when almost infini- 
tesimally small. The air is full of such minute 
particles emitted from everything in nature, and 
the nose perceives distinct odors from many of 
them, but not from all. In the other world, 
however, the sense of smell is much keener than 



The Nose 145 

in this world, and its range of perceptions is 
correspondingly greater; and we are told that 
even human spheres become odorous there, and 
that the quality of every one's life and thought is 
made manifest by the odor of his sphere : 

"When any spirit is coming toward others, al- 
though he is yet at a distance and hidden from view, 
his presence is perceived, as often as the Lord grants 
it, from a certain spiritual sphere; and from this 
sphere the quality of his life, affection, and faith is 
known. Angelic spirits, who are in more exquisite 
perception, hence know innumerable things in regard 
to the state of his life and faith. This has been 
shown to me on many occasions. These spheres, 
when it pleases the Lord, are also turned into odors; 
the odor itself is manifestly perceived. The reason 
why those spheres are turned into odors is that odor 
corresponds to perception; and because perception 
is as it were spiritual odor, hence also the odor 
descends." * 

The nose, exclusive of its bones, corresponds to 
the perception of internal quality ; for it perceives 
not the grosser elements of matter like the 
tongue, but the light odorous particles which are 
thrown off by animate and inanimate objects 
and constitute the expression of their inner na- 
ture, and which are inappreciable to any other 
sense of the body. It is the faculty of perceiving 
truly the inward quality of others, as, for instance, 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 4626. 



146 The Mind and the Body 

whether they are internal or external, clever or 
stupid, efficient or inefficient, credulous or scepti- 
cal, progressive or unprogressive, and so on. 

The above correspondence assigned to the nose 
is clearly set forth by Worcester * ; and this is one 
of the few cases in which exactly the same result 
has been reached by his method of studying the 
correspondences of the bodily organs through a 
knowledge of the most important general facts 
relative to their functions, and by the method 
herein employed of studying correspondences 
through an exact idea of their structural ap- 
pearance. Too little is known of the distinc- 
tive functions of the organs and tissues of the 
body to make it possible to perceive their true 
correspondences by a consideration of their func- 
tional activities merely; and any successful cor- 
respondential study of the parts of the human 
body must be based on a perception of the cor- 
respondences of their structural forms, and the 
accuracy of such perception must then be tested 
by its agreement with whatever functional data 
are known. When the correspondence of the 
organ or tissue has been obtained, the corre- 
spondence of its function can readily be seen. 
As interpretive of the societies of the Greatest 
Man of heaven, the correspondences of anatomical 
structure reveal the nature of the angels belonging 
to the several provinces, and the correspondences 

» Physiological Correspondences, pp. 181, 188. 



The Nose 147 

of physiological function indicate their distinctive 
activity. 

Worcester states also that the nose corresponds 
to the faculty of perceiving what is abstractly 
true and wise, which is something entirely differ- 
ent from the faculty of perceiving internal quality, 
and which, moreover, does not seem to be correct. 
There is nothing in the structure of the nose to 
suggest such a correspondence ; and the perception 
of what is abstractly true seems rather to be the 
function of the lungs, which, under the influence of 
inspiration from above, perceive the abstract truth 
represented by the inbreathed air. It is true that 
the air destined for the lungs passes first through 
the nostrils ; but it is the lungs, and not the nostrils, 
that draw in the air. The air must come in con- 
tact with the membrane of the nose, in order that 
the odorous particles floating in the air may be 
perceived by the olfactory cells; but its need of 
receiving the air simply renders the nose the most 
appropriate organ to act as a conveyer of air to 
the lungs, and does not cause it to correspond to 
the perception of what is abstractly true. There 
is a comparative simplicity of form and diversity 
of function in the human body, and the reason 
therefor is doubtless the prevention of unneces- 
sary and cumbersome duplication of organs. 
Every organ has evidently been selected for a 
special use in the human body because of its 
correspondential ability and fitness to perform 



148 The Mind and the Body 

some primary function, and then to this original 
function have been added any supplementary 
functions which are necessary for the harmonious 
combination and efficient operation of the body 
as a whole ; thus the larynx, while it corresponds 
to the faculty of giving commands, has the 
function of producing all vocal sounds whether 
in commanding or otherwise. Such diversity of 
function, and the difficulty of recognizing the 
primary function which alone reveals the true 
correspondence of the organ, render still more 
unreliable the study of anatomical correspond- 
ences solely through a knowledge of functions. 

The upper portion of the nose proper corre- 
sponds to emotional and concrete perception of 
internal quality, and the lower portion corre- 
sponds to intellectual and abstract perception 
of internal quality. The columnar supporting 
cells of the olfactory mucous membrane seem to 
have the function and correspondence of taking 
cognizance and giving notice of the presence of 
odors; and the spindle-shaped olfactory cells, 
connected with terminal filaments of the olfactory 
nerve, seem to have the function and corre- 
spondence of sensing the exact smell. The 
tubular glands of the olfactory mucous mem- 
brane seem to correspond to particular percep- 
tions of the internal quality of objects and persons 
founded on their odor or sphere. When there is 
little perception of the inward purity or vileness 



The Nose 149 

of things as shown by the sweetness or foulness 
of their odors, a comparative insensibility to such 
odors results; just as, when insufficient fluid is 
secreted by these glands, the sense of smell is 
greatly impaired. The acinous glands in the 
respiratory tract of the mucous membrane seem 
to correspond to general perceptions of the in- 
ternal quality of others based on actual contact 
with them. 

Worcester gives the following as the corre- 
spondence of the cartilages and bones of the nose : 

"The things which have been said of the nose relate 
especially to the sensitive lining of it. Besides this, 
the great body of the nose is composed of cartilages 
and bones which protect the nerves, and support the 
membranes in the forms and positions which are 
necessary to their uses. The angels who are in these 
parts of the nose of the Greatest Man hold strongly 
and firmly to the right and duty to examine all the 
spheres of life that come to it, and to admit to the 
Heavenly Man the sphere of the Lord's genuine 
truth. The same parts in an individual correspond 
to his hold of the right to think for himself as to the 
agreeableness or disagreeableness to him of states or 
spheres of life and thought. Hence a prominent nose 
indicates a certain degree of independence of thought 
and opinion." 1 

But the nasal cartilages are as much a part of the 

faculty of perceiving internal quality as is the 

» Physiological Correspondences, p. 189. 



150 The Mind and the Body 

nasal membrane, although the cartilages repre- 
sent a more interior mental penetration, which is 
not so dependent for its perceptions on sensuous 
contact with the spheres of others as are the 
glands of the mucous membrane. The above 
correspondence, which is manifestly based on the 
general functional fact that the cartilages and 
bones give firmness to the nose, and not on any 
study of the particular cartilages and bones, ap- 
plies only to the nasal process of the superior 
maxillary bone, which seems to correspond to the 
determination not to be dominated in one's per- 
ceptions of internal quality by the opinions of 
others. As stated in the chapter on the bones, 
the nasal bone corresponds to the perception and 
knowledge of inward character; the inferior tur- 
binate bone, to the perception and knowledge 
of interior or psychological states of mind; and 
the ethmoid bone, to vigilant watchfulness. The 
turbinated processes of the ethmoid bone may 
correspond to the scenting of the approach or 
presence of others who are hidden from view. 

According to Swedenborg, the nose purifies the 
arterial blood on its way to the brain, and also 
purges the organs of the head from their phlegms 1 ; 
and this action doubtless corresponds to the re- 
moval of dense and obscure thoughts, which the 
perception of internal quality represented by the 

» Animal Kingdom, 346, 347; also the chapter on Smell in 
Part IV. of same work. 



The Nose 151 

nose is quick to discern and to reject. Hence the 
perception of internal quality must be of great 
service to the whole man in searching out and 
discarding whatever is evil and inefficient. 
Swedenborg gives an instance of the casting down 
by the angels of the nose of dull and stupid 
spirits who had insinuated themselves into in- 
terior provinces for the purpose of ensnaring 
others, and who had reference to the mucus of the 
nostrils. 1 Such purification by the angels of this 
province closely resembles the function of the 
nose, by virtue of which it removes and casts 
down the mucus in the blood and in the organs of 
the head and brain. 

The manifold variations in the shape of the 
nose in different individuals all have their special 
meanings; but in general a long nose indicates 
profound perception of internal quality, a short 
nose superficial perception, and an aquiline nose 
keen perception. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the nose, ex- 
clusive of the bones, is represented by Afghanistan 
and Beluchistan. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the nose are they who enjoy above all others the 
perception of the internal quality of persons and 
things. The societies of the nose proper, to- 
gether with the societies of the nasal bone and the 
inferior turbinate bone, are skilful in searching 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 4627. 



152 The Mind and the Body 

out and accurately determining the essential 
quality, character, and interior states of mind of 
all with whom they meet; and their pleasure in 
perceiving the good and wise qualities and states 
of others, as well as their aversion to evil and 
stupid states, are communicated to many other 
societies for their refreshment, guidance, or warn- 
ing. These angels perceive the inward quality of 
all who come heavenward, and their perceptions 
must be of great assistance to the provinces of the 
teeth and tongue in ascertaining the real nature 
of the spirits who seek admission to heaven. 
Moreover, if any spirits come into higher societies 
than they are fitted for, the angels of the nose are 
quick to perceive their incapacity and to effect 
their removal. 

In the upper provinces of the nose, the societies 
perceive emotionally and concretely the internal 
quality of individuals, and judge largely by the 
atmosphere of the feelings which they bring with 
them; but in the lower nasal provinces the 
societies perceive more intellectually and ab- 
stractly, and estimate the internal quality of 
others mainly by the general tenor of their words 
and deeds. 

The societies of the nasal bone do not perceive 
internal quality, like the angels of the nose 
proper, but they are keen to discern the inherent 
goodness or wickedness of the character of others ; 
and the societies of the inferior turbinate bone 



The Nose 



i53 



possess a wonderful perception of the interior 
states of mind of individuals, and indeed of the 
whole heaven. 

These and other societies constitute the ag- 
gregate nose of the Heavenly Man, and they dis- 
charge many important duties in that capacity. 




THE CHEEKS AND CHIN 

THE rigid bony framework of the sides and 
bottom of the face is overlaid by the pliable 
muscular cushions of the cheeks and chin, which 
impart rounded contour and beauty to these por- 
tions of the face. A number of muscles combine 
to form the muscular tissue of the cheeks and 
chin, but not all of them strictly belong thereto ; 
thus, the buccinator muscle, which constitutes 
the inner muscular layer of the cheek, is chiefly 
concerned with keeping the food between the 
teeth during mastication, and therefore it be- 
longs to the region of the mouth rather than to 
the cheeks. The platysma myoides muscle, al- 
though it forms a part of the cheek, extends also 
across the neck to the chest. 

The cheeks correspond to good-will toward 
others in general, and the chin corresponds to 
good-will toward individuals. The platysma my- 
oides muscle corresponds to the outward expres- 
sion of good- will in the manner and conduct. 
The cheeks are the home of smiles betokening 
good-will, and this fact corroborates the corre- 
spondence assigned to them. 
154 



The Cheeks and Chin 155 

The muscles of the cheeks and chin are the 
most expressive of the facial muscles ; and by their 
interaction they body forth, on the one hand, the 
smiles and sympathy of good-will and benignity, 
and, on the other hand, the sneers and snarls 
of ill-will and malignity. In conjunction with 
the other facial muscles, the muscles of the cheeks 
and chin have the function of mirroring many 
other emotions of the mind besides those of good- 
will and its perversion, and the appropriateness 
of these muscles for such a function may be due 
to the circumstance that nearly all our emotions 
exert an influence on our feeling of good-will 
toward others. 

If the cheeks and chin correspond to good- will, 
large cheeks and chins, under normal conditions, 
should correspond to a well-developed faculty of 
good- will; and it seems to be true, as a general 
rule, that persons with plump cheeks possess 
more good-will toward others than persons with 
meagre cheeks, for the latter are apt to be gloomy 
and irritable, while the former are usually serene 
and pleasant. A prominent chin, if it is due to 
the size of the chin muscles, indicates a large de- 
gree of good- will toward individuals; but if it is 
owing to a large development of the lower jaw- 
bone, it indicates an ability to dominate indi- 
viduals. Hence, a receding chin is regarded as 
a sign of weakness, because it shows inability to 
dominate outwardly other individuals. 



156 The Mind and the Body 

In the representative worship of the Jewish 
Church, the two cheeks of sacrificial offerings 
were given to the priests as their due, 1 because 
emotional and intellectual good-will, which is 
represented by the two cheeks, should be a 
special attribute of the priesthood. So, too, when 
the Lord says in His symbolic language, "Resist 
not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy 
right cheek, turn to him the other also," 2 He 
means that, if our emotional good- will is affronted 
by others, we should not withdraw our good- will 
from them and return a similar rebuff, but should 
rather offer to those who offend us an intellectual 
good-will expressed with more conscious effort. 
Such conduct is figuratively turning the left 
cheek after the right has been smitten. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the cheeks 
and chin are represented by Indo-China, and the 
platysma myoides muscle is represented by the 
Malay Peninsula. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the cheeks and chin are the angels who are in un- 
bounded good-will and benignity to all, whether 
collectively or individually. The different societies 
express their good- will in different ways; some 
express it by a smiling pleasantness, some by a 
sympathetic amity, and some by benevolent 
manners. 

The hard and dominating severity of the 

» Deuteronomy xviii., 3. 2 Matthew v., 39. 



The Cheeks and Chin 157 

societies of the facial bones is tempered and 
rendered less unlovely by the smiling attractive- 
ness of these gentle angels. 

The mobility of countenance possessed by the 
societies of the cheeks and chin, by which they 
are able to express readily all the shades of good- 
will and benignity, comes also into play for ex- 
pressing the varied moods of the whole heaven; 
for it is mainly through the societies of the face 
and eyes that the affections of the Heavenly Man 
are visibly portrayed, and no matter how benevo- 
lent the feelings of the angels of the cheeks and 
chin may be, they must mirror to others the 
emotions of the other provinces of heaven 
toward them, whether favorable or unfavorable. 




THE LIPS, TEETH, MOUTH, AND TONGUE 

THE soft, flexible, muscular lips are the first 
doors guarding the entrance to the body. 
They consist chiefly of the orbicularis muscle, 
which interlaces with fibres from surrounding 
facial muscles ; and they are endowed with marked 
sensibility, owing to the presence of sensory 
papillae resembling the corpuscles of touch. 

The chief office of the lips is the reception and 
introduction of food. This use is most evident 
in drinking, when, in conjunction with the cheeks, 
fauces, and tongue, the lips draw in the liquid, 
and introduce it into the mouth; but the lips 
perform a similar use in laying hold of solid 
food and drawing it into the mouth. The lips 
also co-operate with the cheeks and tongue in 
pressing the harder portions of solid food between 
the teeth, in order that the particles may be 
separated and the inner contents set free; and 
they unite with these organs in gently pressing 
and examining the food, crushing its softer por- 
tions against the hard palate and gums, and 
bringing it into contact with all the absorbing 
158 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 159 

surfaces of the mouth. Through their exquisite 
sensibility the lips are able to detect the pres- 
ence of anything prickly, caustic, or otherwise 
injurious in the food, and to warn the tongue 
against its reception. By reason of their mobility 
and their intimate connection with other facial 
muscles, the lips share in the facial expression of 
the thoughts and emotions of the mind. 

Continuous with the mucous membrane lining 
the lips and mouth is the firm red tissue forming 
the gums, which affords a dense covering and 
support for the necks and roots of the teeth as 
they rest in the sockets specially provided for 
them in the maxillary bones. 

Based upon the gums and partly enclosed by 
them are the teeth, the main substance of which 
is the hardest and most resistent structure in the 
body. The teeth are divided into four kinds, 
consisting of molars, bicuspids, canines, and 
incisors. 

The function of the teeth is to masticate the 
harder morsels of solid food, in order that their 
contents may be thoroughly disclosed. The in- 
cisor teeth bite off the quantity of food to be 
taken into the mouth at any one time, and also 
cut up some of the fragments, the action of the 
canines is similar to that of the incisors, the 
bicuspids break up the food into small pieces, and 
the molars grind and separate all the remaining 
particles. 



160 The Mind and the Body 

The roof of the mouth is formed by the hard 
palate and the soft palate, and its floor is formed 
by the tongue. 

The hard palate is a process of the superior 
maxillary and palate bones, and is covered by 
periosteum and firm mucous membrane. The 
soft palate consists of two layers of mucous mem- 
brane, with intervening muscles, nerves, vessels, 
and tissue, and runs backward and downward 
from the hard palate to the pharynx. The soft 
palate presents two arching folds, known as the 
anterior and posterior palatine arches or pillars, 
and from its centre between these arches there 
hangs, like the tip of a finger pointing downward, 
a conical projection named the uvula. 

Through special ducts opening into the forward 
part of the mouth three sets of salivary glands 
pour their watery and viscid secretions, which, 
mingling with the food during mastication, par- 
tially convert starchy materials into sugar, unite 
with the purer juices of the food which are ab- 
sorbed in the mouth directly into the blood- 
vessels, and render the remainder of the food a 
soft, pulpy mass which can be easily swallowed. 

At the sides of the throat between the anterior 
and posterior palatine arches lie the tonsil glands, 
the viscid secretion of which serves, like the 
viscid part of the saliva, to lubricate the mass of 
food as it passes, and to enable it to be readily 
swallowed. 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 161 

The tongue is composed mainly of muscular 
tissue, and the greater part of its upper surface is 
thickly studded with tactile and gustatory papillae, 
which give this portion of the tongue its char- 
acteristic rough appearance. The chief sensoria 
of taste are groups of modified epithelial cells 
known as taste buds, which are found on certain 
parts of the tongue. 

The tongue has the functions of taking hold of 
or rejecting the food received by the lips; of 
tasting its quality ; of pressing the harder portions 
between the teeth for rigid examination; of ab- 
sorbing through appropriate pores, for the benefit 
of the brain and the general system, the purer 
essences and spiritous elements contained in the 
food; and of conveying the mass of salivated food 
backward to the pharynx in the act of swallowing. 

At the root of the tongue is the epiglottis, a 
thin, leaf-like plate of fibro-cartilage, which serves 
to close the entrance to the trachea during swal- 
lowing, and so to prevent the food from falling 
into it. Taste buds similar to those of the tongue 
exist on the pharyngeal surface of the epiglottis, 
and indicate some perception of taste in that 
organ; but since, by reason of their situation, 
these buds can come into contact with nothing 
but the air, it must be a perception of flavor 
rather than of real taste, and it is not unlikely 
that the epiglottis joins with the nose in perceiv- 
ing the flavors of fine beverages, the perception 



1 62 The Mind and the Body 

of the excellence of which depends largely upon 
the sensing of the odorous particles they emit into 
the air. 

After the food has been sufficiently masticated, 
it is gathered up into a mass resting on the back 
of the tongue, and by the tongue's movement is 
carried backward and thrust through the anterior 
palatine arches. During this action the soft 
palate is raised so as to touch the posterior wall 
of the pharynx, the curved edges of the posterior 
palatine arches are brought nearer together, and 
the small gap between them is filled up by the 
uvula. In this manner the food is prevented 
from entering the nasal chamber above, while 
below its progress is guided by the epiglottis, 
which forms a bridge for its passage over the top 
of the trachea. Thus directed and guided the 
food is delivered into the pharynx, by which it is 
immediately seized and quickly transferred to the 
oesophagus, and so started on its way to the 
stomach. In addition to its function of keeping 
the food out of the nasal chamber, the uvula pro- 
vides that the mucus of the nose does not come 
into the mouth and blunt the delicate sensoria of 
taste by mingling with the saliva, and also that 
it does not fall into the open trachea, but that it 
is properly directed downward to the back of the 
tongue, whence it is conveyed into the pharynx. 

All the foregoing organs assist also in the pro- 
duction of speech, giving final form to the vibra- 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 163 

tions of the trachea and larynx; and as in their 
introductory office of receiving and examining 
physical food they represent in general the love 
of receiving and examining mental food, so in 
their outward office of assisting in the production 
of articulate speech they represent a love of giving 
ultimate expression to the feelings and thoughts 
of the mind, and thus of being its mouthpiece. 

The lips correspond to the faculty of receptive- 
ness, for their function is to receive food and to 
draw it into the mouth. But as it is impossible 
to remain in a receptive state of mind when a 
person is tired or when he is initiatively busy, the 
lips correspond also to the love of resting while 
others are active, and of watching them in their 
activities ; for in this way, with alternate rest and 
action, the receptive state can be indefinitely 
prolonged. 

Receptivity can be exercised either toward 
knowledge or toward persons: when applied to 
knowledge, it is the love of receiving new knowl- 
edge and wisdom for the use of the mind; and 
when applied to persons, it is the love of receiving 
them with receptive responsiveness to their states 
of mind. A function similar to that of the lips 
is performed by reception committees in human 
society. 

The gums, which are intermediate in their 
position and structure between the lips and the 
jawbones, correspond to the faculty of forcing 



1 64 The Mind and the Body 

one's sphere over others, either for the purpose of 
resting or for the sake of maintaining one's own 
individuality. 

The teeth, which are developed from papillae of 
the mucous membrane, correspond to the faculty 
of determining by keen examination the real fit- 
ness of ideas for acceptance ; for it is the function 
of the teeth to penetrate the hard morsels of food, 
to lay bare the contents, and to reject as worthless 
whatever is too hard to be opened. The fitness 
of ideas for mental pabulum seems to depend 
largely upon their containing some interior per- 
ception and thought, and so some inner life and 
substance ; for mere facts are probably as useless 
for spiritual nourishment as bits of bone and other 
hard particles are unfit for natural food. 

The maxillary bones, into grooves of which the 
teeth are set, correspond, as was stated above, to 
the faculty of dominating, which consists in forc- 
ing one's sphere upon others, and not receiving 
their spheres in return; but the teeth, while re- 
taining something of the dominative power of the 
maxillary bones, are willing to admit others and 
their spheres provided they find upon careful 
examination that these are worthy to be ad- 
mitted into the life of the individual or the 
society. The four kinds of teeth correspond to 
the examination of applicants by keen inquiry as 
to their feelings, thoughts, knowledge, and state- 
ments. The molars correspond to examination 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 165 

as to feelings and motives; the bicuspids, to ex- 
amination as to thoughts; the canines, to ex- 
amination as to knowledge and conduct ; and the 
incisors, to examination as to the correctness of 
statements made. The central incisors corre- 
spond to testing the statements of applicants by 
requiring credentials from other persons of stand- 
ing which will vouch for the good character and 
ability of the applicants, and the lateral incisors 
correspond to testing such statements by asking 
applicants examinative questions, and determin- 
ing by their answers their fitness for admission. 
In a more abstract and impersonal sense, the 
central incisors correspond to determining the fit- 
ness of ideas or teachings for acceptance by the 
recommendations of others, and the lateral in- 
cisors correspond to determining such fitness by 
the test of one's own standards. A thorough ex- 
amination by the mental teeth of the real fitness 
and worth of what is presented for our acceptance 
is as necessary for the proper assimilation of ideas 
by the mind as thorough mastication is essential 
to good bodily digestion. 

The incisors bite off the quantity of food taken 
at one time into the mouth, in the same way that 
the faculties of requiring testimonials and refer- 
ences, and of asking test questions, are employed 
for regulating the admission of new members to 
the various human societies. The more interior 
action of the canine, bicuspid, and molar teeth is 



166 The Mind and the Body 

represented by the more interior examination of 
applicants as to their knowledge and previous 
work and conduct, as to their thoughts and 
opinions, and as to their feelings and motives. 

The first or outermost molars are the earliest of 
the permanent teeth to be formed, and appear at 
six years of age; while the third or innermost 
molars, known as the "wisdom teeth," are the 
latest of all to be developed, and do not usually 
make their appearance until about the twenty- 
first year. This peculiar growth of the molars 
indicates that a keen examination of ideas, based 
on emotional knowledge, is the first aspect of 
the above examinative faculty that a person 
permanently acquires; whereas a deep and per- 
ceptive examinative mentality, which is able to 
determine real fitness by an examination of the 
inmost feelings, tendencies, and motives, is of 
comparatively late development in the individual 
mind. 

Swedenborg speaks of the disputes of the evil 
as sounding like the gnashing of teeth x ; for the 
evil love to argue over what is worthy of accept- 
ance, and their keen disputes as to inherent 
strength or weakness of ideas and arguments are 
like the gnashing of teeth. 

Of Judah it is declared in the Bible that "his 
teeth shall be white with milk," 2 words which 
signify that his keen inquiry as to the real fitness 

» Heaven and Hell, 575. 2 Genesis xlix., 12. 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 167 

of teachings will be made purely in a spirit of help- 
fulness toward others ; and the destruction by the 
Lord of the keen mental power by which the evil 
essay to show the unsubstantiality and worthless- 
ness of spiritual truths is what is meant in the 
Psalms where we read, "Thou hast broken the 
teeth of the wicked." * 

The hard palate corresponds to the faculty of 
hard domination, attained by mentally forcing 
one's self over others; and the soft palate cor- 
responds to a gentler kind of domination, which 
insists merely that established rules shall be 
obeyed. It is one of the rules of the body that 
food shall not be allowed to pass from the mouth 
into the nasal chamber, and the pillars of the soft 
palate, together with the uvula, are entrusted 
with the duty of enforcing compliance with this 
rule. The duty of the anterior pillars is to ascer- 
tain the wish and purpose of anything going 
thither, the duty of the uvula is to make known 
the prohibitive rule and point out the downward 
direction which has to be taken, and the duty 
of the posterior pillars is to block the upward 
passageway. 

The salivary glands correspond to the faculty 
of perceiving the needs of the mind and body, and 
the saliva is information or knowledge as to such 
needs. The knowledge of his needs gives a person 
interest in what is offered to him, and prepares 

1 iii-, 7- 



168 The Mind and the Body 

him for ready acceptance if he has any want 
therefor; and this mental process is the same as 
the functions of the saliva, which mingles with the 
food, partially converts its starch into sugar, and 
prepares it by moisture for ready swallowing, for 
the acceptance of an idea is represented by the 
act of swallowing food. The tonsil glands cor- 
respond to the faculty of giving information as to 
the general condition of affairs. As the secretion 
of the tonsils lubricates the food, and facilitates its 
being swallowed, so information as to the general 
state and condition of the mind in its various de- 
partments facilitates the entrance of new ideas; 
for it instructs them as to the actual conditions 
which they will meet, and thus initially prepares 
them for entering into these conditions, and being 
adapted to them. Worcester gives the corre- 
spondence of the saliva with reference to the 
Greatest Man as "fresh information concerning 
the state and wants of the Heavenly Man and the 
world of spirits" 1 ; but the saliva corresponds to 
information concerning the wants, and the secre- 
tion of the tonsils corresponds to information 
concerning the state, of the Greatest Man. 

The tongue corresponds to the faculty of per- 
ceiving external quality ; for the tongue does not, 
like the nose, come into contact with the volatile 
particles constituting the spheres of objects, and 
perceive their quality, but it comes into contact 

» Physiological Correspondences, p. 28. 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 169 

with the objects themselves, and perceives their 
sweetness, bitterness, acidity, alkalineness, and 
other outward qualities, so far as these can be 
sensed by the taste. It is a faculty that delights 
to meet new varieties of persons and things, to 
perceive their outward quality, and to ascertain 
whether or not they are in harmony with its own 
life. It deals with the exteriors of others, not 
with their interiors. In fact, the tongue seems 
to represent the whole range of man's outward 
likings or tastes, whether mental or physical; for 
we are told that spirits and angels are not per- 
mitted to flow into man's taste, lest they should 
interfere with his individuality. 1 

In regard to the tongue, Swedenborg states : 

' ' The tongue affords entrance to the lungs and also 
to the stomach. Thus it represents a sort of court- 
yard to spiritual things and to celestial things: to 
spiritual things, because it ministers to the lungs, and 
hence to the speech; and to celestial things, because 
it ministers to the stomach, which furnishes aliment 
to the blood and the heart. Wherefore the tongue in 
general corresponds to the affection for truth, or to 
those in the Greatest Man who are in the affection 
for truth, and afterward in the affection for good 
from truth. They therefore who love the Word of 
the Lord, and desire from it knowledges of truth and 
good, belong to that province; but with this differ- 
ence, that some belong to the tongue itself, some to 
1 Heavenly Arcana, 4793. 



170 The Mind and the Body 

the larynx and trachea, some to the throat, some 
to the gums, and some to the lips; for there is not 
the slightest thing in man with which there is not 
correspondence." ! 

The epiglottis, which lies behind the root of the 
tongue, is connected therewith by mucous mem- 
brane, shares therewith its branch of the vagus 
nerve, and exhibits similar taste buds, corre- 
sponds to the faculty of perceiving the interior 
things of external quality. Hence it is the faculty 
of perceiving whether a person or thing is really 
cultured and fine, or whether he is unrefined and 
coarse ; and it no doubt perceives spiritual as well 
as natural fineness. 

This faculty is intermediate between the per- 
ception of internal quality represented by the 
nose and the perception of external quality repre- 
sented by the tongue ; and this circumstance ac- 
counts for the position of the epiglottis between 
the nose and the tongue, and for its participation 
in the functions of both. The correspondence of 
the epiglottis also explains its function of closing 
the trachea ; for it opens the trachea to admit the 
air which is necessary for its perception of fine 
flavor, but closes the trachea at the approach 
of the coarse food, for which it does not care. 
The epiglottis should be well developed in 
connoisseurs. 

It is a singular fact that Swedenborg attributes 

i Heavenly Arcana, 4791. 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 171 

all the senses to spirits in the other world except 
the sense of taste, stating that they have not 
taste, but something analogous, adjoined to the 
smell. 1 It is probable that the sense which they 
have is that exercised by the epiglottis, which is 
a sort of interior taste, adjoined to the smell. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the lips are 
represented by Senegambia ; the gums, by Sierra 
Leone; the teeth, by Fernando Po Island; the 
hard and soft palates, by portions of Guinea ; and 
the tongue and epiglottis, by French Congo and 
Kamerun. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the lips, teeth, mouth, and tongue are of special 
interest to us, because they constitute the heav- 
enly provinces where men are first received after 
death; for the food of the Greatest Man is the 
innumerable spirits who throng heavenward after 
death from all the earths in the universe. 2 

The societies of the lips are the receptive 
angels who love to receive newly deceased spirits, 
and to assist in drawing them out of the natural 
world and introducing them into the province of 
the mouth of the Greatest Man. Swedenborg 
tells us that, at the resurrection of the dead, 
angels from the kingdom of the heart are present, 
who open communication with that province, and 
inspire spiritual affection 3 ; and it is possible that 

» Heavenly Arcana, 1516, 4794. 2 Idem, 5175. 

3 Heaven and Hell, 449. 



172 The Mind and the Body 

these angels are represented by the blood which 
circulates in the blood-vessels of the lips. 

It is the joy of the angels of the lips to receive 
gently the spirits who come to them, and to intro- 
duce them into the mouth of heaven ; but spirits 
who are thoroughly evil cannot be retained long 
in this province, and must be rejected as soon as 
their real nature is perceived. Doubtless the 
angels of the lips, by their exquisite sensibility, 
are able to warn the angels of the mouth and 
tongue of the entrance of any spirits whose 
presence is likely to prove injurious to the Great- 
est Man. 

If the newly resuscitated spirit is qualified, in 
consequence of an earthly life of pure goodness 
and spiritual enlightenment, to enjoy the life of 
heaven without further preparation, the angels 
of the absorbing vessels of the tongue and mouth 
receive him into their midst, and start him im- 
mediately on his way to his respective society; 
and such immediate reception is like the reception 
of the purer juices of the food, which are absorbed 
at once by the blood-vessels, and borne into 
the circulation of the blood. Infants and little 
children are also taken into heaven by these direct 
paths. But if, as is the case with the majority of 
even good persons at the present day, the new 
spirit has attended in the life of the body mainly 
to the good appearance of his life before others, 
without much thought as to his interior motives 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 173 

and principles, and if he still has many false ideas 
and evil habits clinging to him from which he 
must be rid before he is fitted to become a mem- 
ber of a heavenly society and to participate in the 
life of the angels, then he must submit to such 
discipline, training, and instruction as are neces- 
sary for his complete preparation and purification. 
This purifying preparatory process is like the 
treatment accorded to the coarser food, which is 
not at once admitted into the blood-vessels, but 
which is passed through the oesophagus, and sub- 
jected to various corrections and chastenings in 
the stomach and intestines, in order to separate 
it from innutritious and unwholesome elements 
before being taken into the blood ; for spirits who 
are in the alimentary canal of the Greatest Man 
are not yet a part of heaven, but are merely pass- 
ing through it in an introductory and probation- 
ary manner; but when they are representatively 
in the blood-vessels and on the way to their 
respective societies, then they become an integral 
part of heaven. The new spirits, however, whose 
life has been inwardly evil, in spite of the ap- 
pearances of good which they have been able to 
exhibit before others, are compelled to disclose 
their true natures, and, after all their pretences of 
goodness have been thoroughly exposed, they 
are rejected by the angels as unfit to be incor- 
porated in the Greatest Man; and these evil 
spirits are like the hard, foul, and worthless food, 



174 The Mind and the Body 

which is thrust into the intestines, and is finally 
cast out as excrement. 

The societies of the gums are the angels who 
love to rest or to maintain their individuality by 
forcing their spheres over others who are active. 
The societies of the hard palate are the angels 
who are fond of mentally forcing their spheres 
upon others, and of thus dominating them. The 
societies of the soft palate are the angels who 
exercise a gentle domination, and who are mainly 
concerned with seeing that established rules are 
complied with. By their firmness and domina- 
tive strength these societies lend support to the 
societies of the teeth, and dominate and control 
the crowds of spirits who flock into heaven 
through the gates of the lips. The societies of 
the gums and hard palate also assist the societies 
of the tongue in their efforts to ascertain the real 
quality of the gentler spirits who are willing to 
make known their past lives without a rigid 
examination. 

The societies of the teeth are the angels who 
delight in determining by keen examination 
whether the spirits who wish to enter heaven are 
worthy to be admitted. To all comers they say: 
"No one is admitted here who cannot show his 
fitness to enter. Now, what have you to vouch 
for your fitness? what has been your preparation 
for heaven? what have you known and done and 
thought and felt and purposed during your life 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 175 

in the natural world?" Like the teeth, which 
feel the smallest hard particles coming between 
them, and know just where pressure is necessary, 
these angels have a fine tact for hypocrisies and 
concealment; and it is their duty to perform the 
keen examination of spirits' past lives by which 
their whole memory is opened and their inner- 
most motives are explored. 1 

The angels of the central incisor teeth demand 
credentials as to their good character from spirits 
seeking to enter, which no doubt are furnished in 
many instances by the friends who have preceded 
them into the spiritual world ; and the angels of the 
lateral incisor teeth ascertain the worthiness or 
unworthiness of spirits to be admitted by asking 
them test questions, and judge by their answers 
whether their lives are up to the standard of 
heavenly requirement. Such action on the part 
of the angels of the incisors is like the function of 
the incisor teeth in biting off the quantity of food 
desired, and these angels must largely determine 
the number of spirits admitted at any one time 
into the province of the mouth. 

It is possible that the better spirits receive only 
the soft welcomes and gentle treatment of the 
angels of the lips and tongue, with perhaps a 
little needful pressure from the angels of the 
gums and hard palate, and that they are not 
brought at all before the societies of the teeth ; but, 

* Heaven and Hell, 462, 463. 



176 The Mind and the Body 

however that may be, it seems certain that good, 
open-minded spirits, whose quality is easily per- 
ceived, are not subjected to any further examina- 
tion by the societies of the teeth than that which 
is performed by the incisor angels. But all spirits 
whose interiors are concealed, either in conse- 
quence of a life of external morality not con- 
sciously actuated by spiritual motives or for the 
purpose of hiding the inward life, are forced to 
submit to the keen examination of the angels of 
the canine, bicuspid, and molar teeth, in order 
that whatever is in them may be brought forth to 
view. These ange's lay open to the last detail 
the whole past life of a spirit, and disclose all his 
acts, thoughts, feelings, and motives; and if any 
spirit persistently refuses to submit to their ex- 
amination, he is rejected from the province of the 
mouth as totally unfit for admittance to heaven. 
After the innermost secrets of the spirit's past 
life have thus been made manifest by the angels 
of the teeth, and his fitness or unfitness for en- 
trance to heaven determined upon, the societies 
of the tongue apply themselves to the spirit, and, 
aided by the unveiling of his real thoughts and 
affections accomplished by the angels of the teeth, 
they ascertain by their delicate perception whether 
his outward quality is good or bad, and whether or 
not his life is in agreement with the life of the 
Greatest Man. In this work they are greatly 
assisted by the angels of the nose and epiglottis, 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 177 

who perceive the more interior things in regard 
to the spirit's quality. 

In the meantime, angels from the societies 
of the salivary glands, who possess a very full 
knowledge of the general and specific needs of the 
Greatest Man, come to the spirit and instruct 
him as to the needs of heaven. They must inform 
him that the whole Heavenly Man desires new 
members, and that every one who has lived a good 
life on earth from spiritual principles is needed to 
build up and to perfect the various heavenly 
societies ; and they no doubt encourage the new- 
comer further by telling him some of the specific 
needs of the Greatest Man which he will probably 
be able to supply. By thus showing them that 
there is a place in heaven for all who have lived 
a good life, these angels facilitate the entrance of 
new spirits into heaven, whether they are taken 
up directly into the societies of the blood-vessels 
or go through the oesophagus into the stomach. 
By such instruction, too, they make delightful to 
the new spirits the satisfaction in useful works 
which they bring with them, and this is like the 
partial conversion by the saliva of the starch of 
food into sugar. 

By the instruction of the salivary angels, the 
newcomers are partially prepared for the passage 
to the world of spirits, which is the stomach of 
the Greatest Man 1 ; and the first stage of such 

» Apocalypse Revealed, 791. 



178 The Mind and the Body 

passage is like the act of swallowing food. But 
should any spirits wander in other than the ap- 
pointed direction, and seek to ascend into the 
societies of the nose, the angels of the anterior 
palatine arches come to them, and inquire what 
they wish and what is their business there, and 
they are told by angels of the uvula that it is not 
permissible to go in that direction, and their 
proper way is explicitly pointed out to them; 
and if they still persist in their attempt, further 
progress is effectually barred by the angels of 
the posterior palatine arches, who unite with the 
angels of the uvula in completely blocking the 
way. 

The final preparation of new spirits in the 
region of the mouth is accomplished by the so- 
cieties of the tonsil glands. Angels from these 
societies come to the spirits, and instruct them 
as to the general condition of affairs in heaven, 
and what they have to expect there. These 
angels may also give to spirits, so far as they are 
able to do so, information as to the whereabouts 
and state of departed friends. In fact the tonsil 
societies may be regarded as a sort of bureau of 
information for spirits who first enter heaven. 

In his posthumous treatise on The Last Judg- 
ment, Swedenborg gives an account of the in- 
struction of novitiate spirits by angels who were 
appointed for that task, and who evidently 
represent the tonsil glands; for these angels 



Lips, Teeth, Mouth, and Tongue 179 

listened to the different ideas of the spirits con- 
cerning the state of the soul after death and the 
nature of the spiritual world, and then gave them 
true information about the after-life and heaven, 
instructing them in regard to the spiritual sun, 
and showing them how evil spirits at that time, 
by reason of their intermediate position between 
heaven and the natural world, were perverting 
the flow of the Lord's truth through heaven to 
men on earth. 1 By such instruction these angels 
make known to new spirits the general condition 
of affairs which they may expect to meet in the 
spiritual world, and they thereby facilitate, like 
the secretion of the tonsils which lubricates the 
passage of food, their entrance into the world of 
spirits. 

After experiences like these in the province of 
the mouth, the new spirits pass through the so- 
cieties of the pharynx, and enter the oesophagus 
of the Greatest Man. 

1 Spiritual Diary, part vii., pp. 125-133. 




THE (ESOPHAGUS AND THE STOMACH 

THE oesophagus is a muscular tube, made up of 
three coats, which extends from the pharynx 
to the stomach. Its function is to convey food 
into the stomach ; for food does not fall of its own 
weight into the stomach, but is carried along 
thither by successive contractions in the walls of 
the oesophagus, so that it is possible to eat and 
to drink with the head lower than the stomach. 
Even in the case of liquids and small mouthfuls 
of solid food, which are often carried down to the 
stomach by the force of the act of swallowing 
alone, the oesophagus contracts after the food has 
passed, as if to make sure that nothing is left be- 
hind, and thrusts into the stomach any morsels 
of food remaining in its tube. 

The stomach is a muscular bag, joined to the 
tube of the oesophagus by the cardiac orifice at 
its larger end, and opening into the intestines 
through the pyloric orifice at its smaller end. It 
is composed of three coats, — the mucous, mus- 
cular, and fibrous coats ; and the inner surface of 
the mucous coat, which is the inside coat of the 

180 



The CEsophagus and the Stomach 181 

stomach, is covered with numerous glands, which 
constitute the larger part of its structure. These 
glands are of two varieties, the cardiac and the 
pyloric, and they secrete the gastric juice. Hy- 
drochloric acid, which is one of the constituents 
of the gastric juice, is supposed to be secreted 
by the parietal cells of the cardiac glands. 

The chief functions of the stomach are to pro- 
vide a receptacle for the food until it can be taken 
up for final digestion and absorption by the in- 
testines; to mingle thoroughly the gastric juice, 
which it secretes, with the food; and to absorb 
such substances as are ready for absorption. The 
stomach receives the mass of food from the 
oesophagus, and by the movements of its mus- 
cular coats presses and squeezes it together, 
passes it to and fro in a more or less regular cur- 
rent, and pours its gastric juice over it until the 
whole mass is reduced to a soup-like consistency 
known as chyme. It then absorbs such portions 
of the chyme as are ready for absorption, and 
propels the remainder through the pyloric orifice 
to the intestines. The gastric juice has no direct 
action on the starchy, sugary, and fatty materials 
of food, but dissolves only the proteid elements, 
which are absolutely essential for the building up 
of the tissues of the body and for the maintenance 
of its life. 

Swedenborg states that the peristaltic motion 
of the stomach is synchronous with the alternate 



1 82 The Mind and the Body 

respiratory motion of the lungs, and that both 
the oesophagus and the stomach are under the 
government of this pulmonary motion. It is also 
his idea that the functions of ' the parts of the 
stomach resemble those of the whole stomach, 
and that by their penetrative activity these lesser 
stomachs set free the inner essences of the food, 
and absorb them through appropriate pores. 1 

The oesophagus corresponds to the love of an 
immortal life in the spiritual world. As, in its 
lowest form, such a love becomes a desire for the 
mere continuation of life, the appropriateness of 
this faculty to act as the oesophagus of the human 
body is apparent ; for the function of the oesophagus 
is to convey to the stomach the food which is 
absolutely necessary for the maintenance of life. 

The oesophagus also corresponds to the longing 
for the spiritual world and heaven as the goal of 
human existence and as the haven from earthly 
ills, which is one of the aspects of the love of an 
immortal life in the spiritual world. 

The stomach corresponds to the faculty of com- 
munication with spirits from the other world. 
Its mucous coat corresponds to the reception of 
spirits and of the things of the spiritual world, 
its muscular coat corresponds to thoughts about 
spirits and the things of the spiritual world, 
and its fibrous coat corresponds to knowledge 
concerning spirits and the things of the spiritual 

i Animal Kingdom, 99-104. 



The CEsophagus and the Stomach 183 

world. The numerous glands imbedded in the 
mucous coat correspond to perceptions whether 
or not the apparitions seen are really spirits, the 
cardiac or fundus glands being perceptions as to 
whether they are spirits, and the pyloric glands 
perceptions that they are not spirits. These 
glands constitute nearly the whole structure of the 
mucous coat, because the reception of spirits de- 
pends largely upon the perception of the reality 
of their spiritual nature. If we do not believe 
the apparitions which we see to be spirits, we will 
have no inward receptivity toward them, and 
will place no credence in what they may say. The 
gastric juice secreted by the gastric glands seems 
to correspond to thought or instruction concern- 
ing what is spiritual and unspiritual, and the 
hydrochloric acid, which is the acid of common 
salt, seems to correspond to the truth that tests 
the spiritual claims of apparitions by showing 
whether their actions are in accord with their 
pretensions. 

The same faculty that is used in coming into 
communication with spirits, and testing their 
spiritual nature, is exercised in ascertaining the 
spirituality or unspirituality of men; for we form 
our opinion of others' spirituality or want of it 
by coming into direct contact with them, by 
reflecting upon their ideas and statements, and 
by observing whether they live according to the 
truths which they profess. If we ourselves are 



1 84 The Mind and the Body 

spiritually minded, we welcome all others who 
prove to be of a similar nature, and receive them 
into our circle of friends; but those whom we 
perceive to be carnally minded we do not wish to 
receive and make members of our intimate circle, 
but we reject them from our society because of 
their want of spirituality. 

It is just these mental processes that are re- 
flected in the operations of the stomach; for the 
stomach receives the food tentatively, rolls it 
over and over in order to find and to liberate its 
interior essences, and then absorbs through its 
blood-vessels and lacteals such essential portions 
as are fit for reception, and rejects the remainder 
into the intestines. 

The stomach digests and absorbs only the pro- 
teid elements of food, which alone are capable of 
nourishing and maintaining the life of the body; 
and this function resembles the action of the 
spiritual mind, which receives only the spiritual 
elements of truth, and absorbs them for the sus- 
tenance of its activities. 

The physical indigestion produced by over- 
loading the stomach with heavy food is akin to 
the mental indigestion occasioned by cramming 
the mind with a lot of external and natural 
knowledge, which depresses the spirits, and 
causes a temporary dislike for all knowledge. 

Swedenborg speaks of gross spirits who pro- 
duced excessive oppression in the region of the 



The GEsophagus and the Stomach 185 

stomach, and who in the world had been ad- 
dicted to mere pleasure, and had lived in ease 
and indolence devoid of any faith in spiritual 
things. 1 The great oppression which these spirits 
caused in the stomach was no doubt in conse- 
quence of their utter lack of spirituality, and 
their complete indifference to the wisdom and 
knowledge of a spiritual world, so that in their 
carnality they were more like animals than men. 

It was enjoined in the Bible that the maw, or 
stomach, of the animal sacrifices should be part 
of the priests' due, 2 for spirituality is one of the 
special gifts of the priesthood. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the oesophagus 
is represented approximately by German East 
Africa, and the stomach is represented by the 
land lying mainly east of the Nile River, com- 
prising British East Africa, Somaliland, Abys- 
sinia, Nubia, and Egypt. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the oesophagus are the angels whose love of an 
immortal spiritual life is their strongest char- 
acteristic. It is among these angels that new 
spirits come after leaving the province of the 
mouth and pharynx, and they are doubtless 
taught here that they, like all other men, must 
die and put away their natural and outward 
selves and become spiritual beings, and they are 
also inspired with a love for immortal spiritual 

» Heavenly Arcana, 5723. 2 Deuteronomy xiii., 3. 



1 86 The Mind and the Body 

existence, and with a longing for heaven and 
heavenly happiness. Under the influence of such 
instruction and desire they begin to hasten their 
steps along the oesophageal road. Here, too, they 
first feel the inspirational impulses of the heart 
and lungs of heaven, which must tend to awaken 
more spiritual states of mind in them. But the 
oesophagus of the Greatest Man is mainly a path- 
way to the stomach, which is the world of spirits 
proper, where new spirits assemble in vast num- 
bers and form organized societies, and where they 
remain for periods not exceeding thirty years. 1 

The societies of the stomach of the Greatest 
Man are the angels who love to receive spiritual 
persons and things, and to perceive, think, and 
know what is spiritual. Hence they must possess 
a great deal of knowledge and wisdom in regard 
to the spiritual world in general, as well as a very 
keen perception of the spirituality or want of 
spirituality in those whom they meet. By these 
angels the new spirits are received, and are care- 
fully examined as to their spiritual nature. No 
mere knowledge of spiritual things is accepted as 
a proof of spirituality, and these angels test the 
spiritual claims of all newcomers by ascertaining 
whether they have lived according to the spiritual 
truths which they learned in the world. The 
angels also give the new spirits plenteous instruc- 
tion concerning what is truly spiritual. Such 
» Heaven and Hell, 426; Apocalypse Revealed, 866. 



The (Esophagus and the Stomach 187 

examination and instruction, like the action of 
the gastric juice upon food, have the effect of 
bringing out the interior thoughts and affections 
of spirits, and of clearly discriminating between 
what is spiritual and what is not spiritual in 
them. 

Swedenborg tells us that there are three states 
which the generality of spirits undergo after 
death before they pass either into heaven or into 
hell; these are a state of exteriors, a state of in- 
teriors, and a state of preparatory instruction, all 
which are experienced in the world of spirits. 1 
The first or exterior state, in which the spirit is in 
an external state of mind similar to that which 
he had in the world, lasts until he comes into the 
region of the stomach, where it is soon succeeded 
by the second state, in which he enters into the 
thoughts and feelings constituting his real internal 
life, which sooner or later throw off all external 
restraints to their outward expression, and ex- 
hibit the true nature of the spirit. Such change 
of state from external to internal must be largely 
the result of the influence and spiritual instruction 
of the angels of the stomach ; for they live in an 
atmosphere of spirituality, and instruct Christians 
in doctrine received from heaven which is in 
entire agreement with the internal sense of the 
Word. 2 The state of preparatory instruction is 
experienced only by good spirits, for the evil 

» Heaven and Hell, 491. 2 Idem, 516. 



1 88 The Mind and the Body 

reject all spiritual instruction. Swedenborg men- 
tions several of the methods of instruction em- 
ployed in the world of spirits, and gives the 
following characteristic instance of an examina- 
tion of spirits in that world, which was made 
by angels, who probably represented the parietal 
cells of the cardiac glands, in order to determine 
whether the spiritual truths the spirits knew were 
united to a good life : 

"There were spirits who, from their thought in the 
world, had persuaded themselves that they would go 
to heaven, and be received in preference to others, 
because they were men of learning, and knew many 
things from the Word and from the doctrines of their 
churches, believing that they were therefore wise, and 
that they were meant by those of whom it is said 
that 'they shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment and as the stars' (Daniel xii. 3). But they 
were examined as to whether their knowledge resided 
in the memory or in the life. They who had a genu- 
ine affection for truth, thus for truth for the sake of 
uses separate from corporeal and worldly considera- 
tions, which in themselves are spiritual uses, were, 
after they had been instructed, received into heaven. 
It was then granted them to know what it is that is 
bright in heaven, and that it is in fact the Divine 
Truth, which is the light of heaven, embodied in use, 
which is the plane that receives the rays of that 
light, and turns it into various degrees of brightness. 
But they with whom knowledge resided only in the 
memory, and who had thence acquired a faculty of 



The (Esophagus and the Stomach 189 

reasoning about truths, and of confirming the views 
which they had accepted as principles, which, al- 
though false, seem after confirmation like truths, 
these persons held the belief, owing to the pride which 
generally adheres to such intelligence, that they were 
more learned than others, and therefore would go to 
heaven, and that the angels would serve them. There- 
fore, in order that they might be withdrawn from 
their fatuous faith, they were taken up to the first or 
ultimate heaven to be introduced into some angelic 
society. But when they were in the very entrance, 
on receiving the influx of the light of heaven their 
eyes began to be darkened, their understanding grew 
confused, and at length they commenced to gasp for 
breath like men who are dying, and when they felt 
the heat of heaven, which is heavenly love, they 
began to be inwardly tortured. Wherefore they 
were cast down from there, and were then instructed 
that knowledge does not make an angel, but the life 
which is acquired by knowledge ; since knowledge, 
regarded in itself, is outside of heaven, whereas the 
life acquired through knowledge is within heaven." * 

If, after such examination and instruction, the 
new spirits are found to be true lovers of spiritual 
things and sufficiently detached from worldly 
ties to be ready to enter at once upon a life of 
heavenly happiness, they are warmly received 
by the angels of the stomach, and are guided by 
them to ways which lead heavenward through 
angelic societies ; but if the new spirits, although 
» Heaven and Hell, 518 



190 The Mind and the Body 

interiorly good, still cling to false ideas and 
carnal affections, they, together with all evil 
spirits, are rejected by the angels of the stomach 
into the intestinal societies because of their 
deficient spirituality. 

In the stomach of the Greatest Man the separa- 
tion of the good from the evil is begun, which 
is afterward carried on and completed in the 
province of the intestines; but comparatively 
few spirits are taken up into heaven from the 
stomach, for most persons require further dis- 
cipline and purification in the lower earth of the 
intestines before they are fitted for heavenly life. 1 
» Heavenly Arcavia, 4728. 




THE INTESTINES 

THE intestines are muscular and membranous 
canals, much convoluted and corrugated, 
and resembling the stomach in their structure and 
peristaltic movements. 

The intestines consist of the small intestine, 
which is long and narrow, and the large intestine, 
which is short and wide. The small intestine is 
divided into three parts, consisting of the duo- 
denum, the jejunum, and the ileum. The duo- 
denum communicates with the stomach through 
the pyloric orifice, and into the duodenum empties 
the common duct into which the cystic, hepatic, 
and pancreatic ducts converge, and which con- 
veys to the intestines the bile from the gall- 
bladder and liver and the pancreatic juice from 
the pancreas. The ileum joins the large intestine 
at the cascum, which is a wide intestinal pouch at 
the right side of the abdomen, and in which is 
situated the ileo-caecal valve, guarding against 
any reflow of the contents of the large intestine 
into the small intestine. To the cascum is at- 
tached the elongated process named the vermiform 
191 



192 The Mind and the Body- 
appendix. From the caecum the large intestine 
passes upward, and is known as the ascending 
colon; it then turns at right angles and runs 
across the abdomen to the left side of the body, 
being called the transverse colon in this part of 
its course ; next it bends backward and descends 
along the left side of the body, becoming the de- 
scending colon. The termination of the descend- 
ing colon passes to the middle of the abdomen, 
where it merges into the rectum, the lower end of 
which opens externally through the anus. Hence 
the alimentary canal affords a continuous passage 
through the body from the entrance at the lips to 
the exit at the anus. 

Throughout the intestines the mucous mem- 
brane is closely set with innumerable small 
glands, known as the glands of Lieberkuhn. In 
the small intestine these glands are accompanied 
by minute elevations called villi ; but in the large 
intestine the villi are absent, and the glands be- 
come twice as long. The cells of the glands and 
of the villi are of two kinds, — columnar and goblet 
cells. The columnar cells of the villi, and prob- 
ably also of the glands, are concerned in the ab- 
sorption of digested food; and the goblet cells, 
which in structure are practically the same as the 
mucous cells of the submaxillary gland, secrete 
mucus. The glands of the large intestine con- 
tain a comparatively large number of goblet 
cells. 



The Intestines 193 

The general functions of the intestines are to re- 
ceive the food after it leaves the stomach, to ab- 
sorb all the remaining nutritious elements, and to 
reject from the body everything innutritious and 
worthless. The intestines receive the portions of 
the food which the stomach has been unable to 
dissolve and absorb, and treat the food with more 
vehemence and heat and with more delay than 
it experienced in the stomach. In the small 
intestine the treatment of the food or chyme is 
comparatively gentle, and a large proportion of 
the chyme is absorbed by the lacteals and blood- 
vessels of the small intestine; but when the un- 
absorbed and refractory chyme enters the large 
intestine, it experiences much harsher treatment, 
which increases in severity all the way from the 
caecum to the rectum, although even here all the 
good particles of chyme which yield to these 
stern digestive forces, and become converted into 
assimilative products, are promptly absorbed 
and taken into the circulation of the blood. In 
the rectum the chyme, or faeces as it has now be- 
come, is treated with the utmost rigor, and a last 
residue of nutritive elements is wrung from it and 
taken up; while the hard, intractable portions 
which have withstood all digestive activities, and 
which are foul and worthless, are cast out through 
the anus as excrement. 

In their functions of finally digesting, absorb- 
ing, and excreting food, the intestines have the 



194 The Mind and the Body 

assistance of the bile, the pancreatic and intes- 
tinal juices, and the action of minute organisms. 
The vermiform appendix also supplies a co-oper- 
ating juice, which has the function of lubricating 
the folds of the colon and softening the mass of 
the faeces. 1 

While in the mouth only carbohydrates are 
digested, and in the stomach only proteid sub- 
stances, in the intestines all three kinds of food- 
stuffs — carbohydrates, proteids, and fats — are 
digested and absorbed. By the action of the 
pancreatic juice, the effect of the saliva secreted 
in the mouth is continued, and most of the 
starch contained in food is digested by being 
turned into sugar, and the proteid substances 
which have been partly dissolved by the gastric 
juice are converted into assimilative products; 
and by the combined action of the pancreatic 
juice and the bile fatty materials are emulsified 
and saponified, and so are prepared for absorption. 
Besides its function of forming emulsions of oils 
or fats, the bile serves to precipitate the proteid 
substances in the chyme, and thus to separate 
them from impurities, and to preserve them for 
the action of the pancreatic juice. 

The intestines correspond to several different 
faculties, which unite in the performance of a 
common function. The small intestine corre- 
sponds to the faculty of mercy; the duodenum 

• Animal Kingdom, 138. 



The Intestines 195 

being compassionate mercy, the jejunum merci- 
fulness in general, and the ileum forgiveness and 
forbearance. The ileo-cascal valve corresponds 
to the faculty which dictates that malefactors 
cannot be permitted to injure others with im- 
punity, but that they must be restrained by 
suitable punishment. The caecum corresponds to 
the faculty of determining the suitable punish- 
ment for a given offence. The vermiform ap- 
pendix corresponds to the faculty of making a 
final effort to secure an amelioration of affairs 
before resorting to extreme measures. The as- 
cending colon corresponds to the faculty of ad- 
ministering punishment, the transverse colon 
corresponds to the faculty of ridicule, the de- 
scending colon corresponds to the faculty of con- 
demnation, and the rectum corresponds to the 
faculty of getting rid of disagreeable things. 

The glands of Lieberkuhn with their villi cor- 
respond to the faculty of accepting whatever is 
suitable for the purposes of the individual, the 
columnar cells corresponding to the acceptance 
itself, and the goblet cells corresponding to the 
knowledge of the requirements and purposes of 
the mind governing such acceptance. The com- 
paratively large absorbing surface occasioned by 
the presence of villi in addition to the glands 
in the small intestine shows greater receptivity of 
the faculty here ; while the greater depth of the 
glands in the large intestine, and the . relatively 



19 6 The Mind and the Body- 
large number of goblet cells present, indicate a 
more deeply critical receptiveness. 

The bile, which is poured into the duodenum 
from the gall-bladder and the liver, seems to 
correspond to knowledge or instruction as to 
what is practicable, useful, and of good judgment; 
for the liver corresponds to concrete judgment or 
judgment as to what is good, and the gall-bladder 
corresponds to judgment from the standpoint 
of feasibility and utility. The pancreatic juice 
seems to correspond to knowledge or instruction 
as to the need of gathering all materials capable 
of being combined into one whole, for the pan- 
creas corresponds to the faculty of synthesis. 

These correspondences are in entire agreement 
with the functions of the intestines and their 
juices: for the faculty of mercy and forbearance 
operates gently and mildly like the small intestine, 
and is helpful in bringing out all the good qualities 
of others; while the faculties of inflicting punish- 
ment, ridiculing, condemning, and getting rid of 
unpleasant persons and things work much more 
harshly, and, like the large intestine, their 
activities serve rather to correct and reject what 
is wrong and evil than to stimulate what is good. 
But there is a limit to mercy and forgiveness, and 
the faculty which dictates that criminals and 
offenders must be punished for their misdeeds in 
order to be deterred from repeating them is like 
the ileo-caecal valve, which prevents any reflow 



The Intestines 197 

of the contents of the large intestine into the 
gentler province of the small intestine. The 
faculty of reflecting upon a suitable and adequate 
punishment for an offence is like the wide pouch 
of the caecum, where the chyme may be detained 
for a time before being subjected to the rigorous 
treatment of the ascending colon. In its de- 
liberations, the faculty represented by the caecum 
receives the softening influence of the attitude of 
mind which is disposed to wait a little longer in 
the hope of an amelioration of affairs, and to make 
a final effort to correct abuses and affronts by 
rebuke or remonstrance before proceeding to the 
extreme measure of administering stern punish- 
ment; and such influence is like the lubricative 
and emollient juice which the vermiform appen- 
dix sends into the caecum. The frequency of 
appendicitis, which is a disease of the vermiform 
appendix, shows how liable this faculty is to 
abuse and perversion; for many persons are un- 
willing to wait awhile for an amelioration of con- 
ditions and to make a final effort to correct and 
remove offences by the mild measure of remon- 
strance or rebuke, but wish at once to inflict due 
punishment upon the offender. Such a hard and 
wrathful spirit of retaliation must necessarily 
tend to produce its physical correlative in the 
inflammation and hardening of the vermiform 
appendix, with all the attendant disorders. 
The same faculty that is represented in the 



198 The Mind and the Body 

body by the vermiform appendix appears in the 
brain as the hinder part of the vermiform process 
uniting the two hemispheres of the cerebellum, 
and is there associated with the faculty of getting 
rid of disagreeable things, which seems to form 
the forward part of the vermiform process, and 
which is represented in the body by the rectum. 
This is one of the cases in which the physical 
correspondential organs are arranged in a different 
manner from that of the correlative cerebral 
centres. 

Similar exact analogies between mental and 
physical operations are afforded by the functions 
of the bile and the pancreatic juice. The proteid 
substances of food correspond in a general way to 
the essential elements of knowledge or truth, be- 
cause proteids are the essential elements of food; 
carbohydrates, consisting of starches and sugars, 
seem to correspond to intellectual satisfactions 
and pleasures ; and oils or fats seem to correspond 
to emotional enjoyments. The knowledge of the 
needs of the mind, like the saliva of the mouth, 
partially converts the starches of intellectual 
satisfactions into the sugar of intellectual pleasure 
by bringing these satisfactions into a living re- 
lation with the individual. The spiritual mind's 
discriminating knowledge of what is spiritual and 
unspiritual serves, like the gastric juice of the 
stomach, to distinguish and to appropriate the 
really spiritual and essential elements of truth. 



The Intestines 199 

The judgment of what is good to do, and of what 
is feasible and useful, has the effect, like that of 
the emulsifying and precipitating action of the 
acrid and bitter bile, of separating the useful, 
practicable, and good enjoyments and suggested 
courses of action from those that are useless, im- 
practicable, and evil. But digestive influences 
on all these kinds of truth and good are exercised 
by the effort of the mind, represented by the 
pancreatic juice, to gather materials from every 
quarter which are suitable for the upbuilding of 
the mind's purposes ; for such an effort seeks to 
obtain every good element, whether essential or 
accessory, that can be combined into a unified 
whole. 

All elements of mental food that respond to 
these mental forces, and become converted into 
assimilative products capable of nourishing the 
mind and of carrying out its purposes, are taken 
up by the faculty of accepting whatever is suitable 
for the mind's activities, mirrored by the glands 
of Lieberkuhn and their villi, to be finally as- 
similated by the various mental provinces, and 
incorporated into their structure; whereas all 
elements which are incapable of really nourishing 
the mind, and the worthlessness of which has been 
fully shown by appropriate faculties, are, after 
rigorous handling, ridicule, and condemnation, 
gotten rid of by the mind as useless and un- 
profitable. 



200 The Mind and the Body 

Owing to the correspondence of the small in- 
testine, the bowels are several times referred to in 
the Bible in connection with mercy, as in the 
following passages : 

"My bowels yearn for Ephraim; I surely will have 
mercy upon him, saith Jehovah." ' 

"Because of the bowels of mercy of our God, 
whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us." 2 

Swedenborg speaks of spirits who live for the 
sole end of enjoying a pleasant life as appearing in 
the other world like attenuated and bloody in- 
testines 3 ; for it is the function of the intestines 
to expose, discipline, ridicule, condemn, and re- 
ject whatever is worthless and foul, and a life of 
mere pleasure, since it clings to what is useless 
and vile, wastes and abuses such a function, and 
prevents it from properly performing its duties. 
He also says that cruel and adulterous spirits 
delight in filth and excrement and in beholding 
foul intestines. 4 Such evil delight may be due 
to the fact that cruelty is the perversion of 
the faculty of just punishment represented by the 
ascending colon, and the filthy contents of the 
intestines are like their foul adulterous passions. 
Inhabitants of the colon, intestine, and rectum, 

i Jeremiah xxxi., 20. 2 Luke i., 78. 

3 Spiritual Diary, 3137; see also Lesser Spiritual Diary, 
4680. 

* Heavenly Arcana, 5394; Spiritual Diary, 2843. 



The Intestines 201 

both evil and of a better sort, are described as 
spirits of great savageness, delighting in battle 
and bloodshed, and loving to kill and destroy. 
As the ascending colon corresponds to the love 
of inflicting punishment, and the rectum to the 
love of getting rid of unpleasant persons, it is not 
difficult to understand why those who constitute 
these provinces should possess so violent a nature. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the small 
intestine is represented by Mexico, the peninsula 
of Lower California representing the duodenum, 
the northern part of Mexico the jejunum, and 
the southern part of Mexico as far as the Isth- 
mus of Tehuantepec the ileum. The caecum is 
approximately represented by Guatemala, and 
the ileocaecal valve is represented by the territory 
between the Isthmus of Tehauntepec and Guate- 
mala. The vermiform appendix is represented by 
the southern half of the Isthmus of Panama. 
The ascending colon is represented by the penin- 
sula of Yucatan, the transverse colon by Nicara- 
gua, the descending colon by Costa Rica, and the 
rectum by the northern half of the Isthmus of 
Panama. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the intestines are the angels who are charged 
with the final separation of good from evil spirits, 
and with the acceptance of all the good and the 
rejection of all the evil. 

The angels of the small intestine surpass all 



202 The Mind and the Body- 

others in mercy, forbearance, and forgiveness. 
With tender compassionateness they receive the 
spirits, both good and bad, who come to them 
from the province of the stomach, and strive by 
kind exhortation and gentle urging to induce 
them to give up their false ideas and evil ways. 
No doubt these angels are often rebuffed and 
insolently treated in their merciful mission by the 
spirits who come to them, many of whom are in 
evil, and all of whom are more or less attached to 
carnal feelings and thoughts which they are 
loath to part with ; but the angels never retaliate 
the rebuffs and incivilities to which they are 
subjected, enduring them with a forbearing and 
forgiving spirit, and seeking to separate from 
their evil companions all good spirits who are 
willing to be led into heavenly ways. In this 
work they are greatly assisted by the angels of 
the cystic, hepatic, and pancreatic ducts, who 
have very decided opinions and love to administer 
sharp instruction to others * in regard to what is 
good, useful, and capable of becoming an organic 
part of heaven, and also what is bad, useless, and 
incapable of heavenly incorporation. By their 
sharp instruction and correction the evil are 
separated from the good, and the good are pre- 
pared for reception into heaven. In addition to 
such instruction, the tender mercifulness and 
gentle forbearance with which the angels of the 

» Heavenly Arcana, 5185. 



The Intestines 203 

small intestine endeavor to free spirits from their 
evil and false ways tend to bring out all their 
good traits, and to lead them to discard whatever 
prevents their entrance into heaven. It is no 
wonder, therefore, that most of the good spirits 
are taken up in this province; and numerous 
societies of the villi and intestinal glands stand 
ready to receive them and to introduce them 
into heaven, if they answer the requirements and 
are suited to the purposes of the Greatest Man. 

The spirits who come from the stomach of 
heaven into the province of the small intestine 
are all the spirits who are evil, and also many 
spirits who at heart are good and charitable, but 
have some confirmed falsity or gross affection 
still clinging to them, or are bound by personal 
attachment to spirits who love an evil life and the 
false doctrines permitting it. 

All the good spirits who are susceptible to the 
merciful goodness and discriminative instruction 
which they receive in the province of the small 
intestine, and relinquish their false ideas and 
their friendships for the wicked, pass into the 
societies of the lacteals for distribution into the 
various provinces of heaven, or else are received 
by the societies of the portal blood-vessels to be 
sent to the province of the liver for further puri- 
fication. But all evil spirits, and even some 
spirits who are inwardly good, resist such gentle 
influence and purifying instruction, and refuse 



204 The Mind and the Body 

to give up their evil enjoyments, their confirmed 
falsities, or their personal attachments ; and these 
spirits are delivered to the societies of the large 
intestine for severe discipline and correction. 

Here the scene suddenly changes. Instead of 
the merciful treatment and kind forgiveness 
which spirits had received at the hands of the 
angels of the small intestine, their continued 
offences against others are no longer tolerated, 
but are met with stern repressive measures. 
After the angels of the vermiform appendix have 
made a last effort by warning or admonition to 
induce them to relinquish their perverse ways, the 
angels of the caecum determine the suitable pun- 
ishment for their offences, and hand them over 
for punishment to the angels of the ascending 
colon, who love to inflict just punishment upon 
offenders for the sake of reform. Even the 
societies of the intestinal glands, whose function 
it is to take up into heaven every spirit possessing 
good life, become more circumscribed and more 
critical than in the province of the small intestine ; 
for they have now to deal with numerous evil 
spirits and comparatively few good ones, and it 
is necessary for them carefully to exclude the 
evil, as they are utterly unsuited for the activities 
and growth of the Heavenly Man. 

The spirits upon whom just punishment makes 
no corrective impression are next sent into the 
transverse colon, where their false ideas and carnal 



The Intestines 205 

attachments are derided as absurd, and become 
the butt of caustic ridicule, in which the angels 
of the transverse colon specially delight. The 
crowd of spirits af terward throng into the descend- 
ing colon, where the angels sternly condemn and 
vehemently denounce their evils and falsities. 
Finally, the spirits pass into the rectum, where 
the evil are gathered together; and whenever 
some unusual outbreak of wickedness on their 
part presents a suitable opportunity, they are 
promptly gotten rid of by the angels of the rectum 
and cast into hell. 

Good spirits who at length turn away from 
their wicked associates, whose loathsome natures 
are now so thoroughly exposed, and after much 
suffering discard their perversely false ideas, are 
taken up into heaven all along the course of the 
intestinal societies, until, when the rectum is 
reached, scarcely any good persons remain among 
the faecal mass of evil spirits; but even here, 
almost at the very gates of hell, a residue of 
tortured spirits is wrested from their evil com- 
panions and taken up into heaven, in order that 
not a single soul possessing any capacity for 
heavenly life may be lost. In fact, we are told 
that there are spirits "who have lived an evil 
life, and yet have some remains of good concealed 
in them. These remains cause them to have a 
little spiritual life after many ages of vastations." 1 

» Heavenly Arcana, 5561. 



THE LIVER, THE KIDNEYS, AND THE 
BLADDER 

THE liver is a broad, glandular organ, the 
largest in the body, and is situated mainly 
on the right side of the abdomen immediately 
under the diaphragm. Lodged in the under sur- 
face of the liver is a pear-shaped sac, named the 
gall-bladder, and running across its outer surface 
is a crescent-like ligament, called the broad or 
falciform ligament, which connects the liver with 
the abdominal wall. 

The functions of the liver are varied and im- 
portant. In addition to secreting the bile, which 
assists the pancreatic juice in digesting food and 
rendering it fit for absorption, the liver separates 
from the blood such matters as need to be ex- 
pelled, and it also purifies and renders assimilable 
the crude products of digestion brought to it from 
the stomach and intestines by the portal vein 
along with the ordinary venous blood from these 
regions. The stream of bright arterial blood dis- 
patched from the heart and the portal stream of 
dark venous blood containing the digestive pro- 
206 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 207 

ducts of the alimentary canal are both mingled 
together in the liver, and are carefully sifted and 
purified, and the resultant fluid is then divided 
into three portions; the enriched and purified 
blood destined for the heart is sent forward 
through the vena cava, the purified and duly 
prepared products of digestion are remitted 
through the lymphatics to the receptacle of 
the chyle, 1 and the impurities extracted from the 
blood are discharged along with the bile into the 
intestines, where they become part of the faeces. 
Besides these functions, the liver furnishes glyco- 
gen, a starchy substance which is stored up in the 
liver until needed by the system, when it is con- 
verted into sugar and carried by the blood- 
vessels to the various parts of the body, and is 
then combined with oxygen to produce heat and 
to assist in the production of muscular movements. 
In current physiology, the gall-bladder is re- 
garded as merely a reservoir for the hepatic bile 
during the intervals between digestive activity in 
the intestines; but it is evident that the gall- 
bladder has other functions besides storing up the 
hepatic bile, for the bile formed by the liver is a 
thin fluid, but after its stay in the gall-bladder it 
is thick and viscid from the secretions of the cells 
lining the gall-bladder. Swedenborg assigns a 
very different function to the gall-bladder, which 
in his view receives from the liver, through 
» Animal Kingdom, 212. 



208 The Mind and the Body 

appropriate blood-vessels, the impure and useless 
blood which the liver is unable to correct and 
purify, and subjects such effete and intractable 
blood to rigorous treatment similar to the action 
of the large intestine upon the feculent residues 
of food. He considers that the gall-bladder de- 
rives its bile, not from the bile of the liver, which 
is different in nature and origin, but from the 
excrementitious blood of its own arteries, and 
that it merely summons the hepatic bile to act as 
a solvent in the ultimate defecation of the blood 
effected in the gall-bladder. 1 

The kidneys are two bean-shaped glands, of 
complicated structure, placed one on each side of 
the spinal column. The general function of the 
kidneys is to eliminate from the blood, in addition 
to a large quantity of its watery element, the 
injurious materials which when dissolved in the 
water constitute urine. 

On the upper end of each kidney lies a small, 
flattened organ called the suprarenal capsule or 
adrenal. Very little is known in regard to the 
functions of the suprarenal capsules, but their 
close anatomical relationship to the kidneys in- 
dicates that they render special service to these 
organs. The removal of the suprarenal capsules 
in animals produces extreme muscular weakness, 
and death speedily ensues; similar muscular 
weakness is caused in man when these capsules are 

' Animal Kingdom, 215; also note x. 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 209 

diseased. It is therefore considered probable that 
the adrenals secrete into the blood a substance or 
substances which are very beneficial to the body, 
especially to the muscular system. 

The ureters are two membranous tubes which 
convey the urine from the kidneys to the bladder. 
Along their course are veins and lymphatics which 
have the function of taking up any good materials 
left in the urine and restoring them to the blood. 1 
The urinary bladder is a distensible bag, lying 
within the pelvic cavity, which acts as a tem- 
porary reservoir for the urine brought to it by 
the ureters. Whenever a considerable quantity 
of urine accumulates in the bladder, it forcibly 
contracts, and expels the urine into the urethra, 
which is a muscular canal serving to carry the 
urine from the bladder to the exterior of the 
body. 

All the foregoing organs correspond to closely 
related parts of the same faculty, — the faculty of 
judgment. In a general way the liver corresponds 
to judgment as to what is good or judgment what 
to do; the gall-bladder, to judgment as to what 
is feasible and useful; the falciform ligament, to 
decision; the kidneys, to judgment as to what is 
true; the suprarenal capsules, to the gathering 
of the data necessary to form a true judgment; 
the ureters, to determining whether any es- 
sential point or factor has been neglected in the 

» Animal Kingdom, 291, 292. 



210 The Mind and the Body 

formation of a judgment ; the urinary bladder, to 
the collection of information as to the opinions 
reached by the judgment; and the urethra, to 
refusing to re-open a question which has been 
settled after careful examination and deliberation. 

These correspondences are clearly reflected in 
the physiological functions of the above organs, 
which are similar to the mental functions they 
portray, and have a similar relationship. 

The liver and the kidneys perform a similar use 
in the body, for the primary function of both is 
to purify the blood. The matter which is voided 
by the intestinal canal, being mainly solid, cor- 
responds in general to evils ; while the matter dis- 
charged by the urinary canal, being mostly liquid, 
corresponds to falsities. The excrementitious 
substances which the liver separates from the 
blood are thrown into the intestinal canal, be- 
cause the liver purifies the blood of its evil things ; 
whereas the poisonous impurities eliminated from 
the blood by the kidneys are poured into the 
urinary canal, because the kidneys purify the 
system of false things. Moreover, both the liver 
and the kidneys exert a powerful influence upon 
the muscular activites of the body, — the liver 
through its glycogen, and the kidneys through 
the secretions of their suprarenal capsules; and 
both liver and kidneys are concerned with the 
production and excretion of urea. Hence the 
physiological, as well as the correspondential, con- 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 211 

nection between the liver and the kidneys is ap- 
parent. The falciform ligament keeps the liver 
in position and at work, the suprarenal capsules 
make it possible for the kidneys to perform their 
functions, and the urinary canal, consisting of 
ureters, bladder, and urethra, serve to convey the 
excretions of the kidneys to the exterior. Con- 
sequently all these organs and tissues stand in 
close physiological relationship, which typifies 
their correspondential connection. 

Judgment as to what to do and as to what is 
good purifies the mind of its obscurities and evils 
just as the liver purifies the blood; for such a 
faculty rejects all plans and impulses which are 
contrary to good judgment, and so clears the 
mind of foolish and harmful projects. The func- 
tion of the liver in storing up glycogen, which it 
converts as needed into sugar and forwards to the 
several parts of the body to produce heat and 
muscular movements, is mirrored in the mental 
operations of the judgment, which, after reaching 
satisfactory conclusions as to what it is best to 
do in regard to various problems, sends forth 
these judgments to form the basis of the outward 
actions of the individual; and these actions are 
performed with pleasure and zeal, which are like 
the sugar and its resultant heat, because their 
wisdom has already been carefully determined, 
and the individual has now to attend only to 
their actual execution. Again, the receptive 



212 The Mind and the Body 

activity of judgment what to do resembles the 
liver's function of assimilating the crude products 
of digestion ; for such judgment receives, adopts, 
and renders ready for incorporation whatever new 
ideas it considers wise and good. So, too, judg- 
ment founded on practicability and utility puri- 
fies the mind from a dense mass of fantastic, 
unfeasible, and useless ideas and suggestions in 
the same manner that the gall-bladder acts as 
the ultimate defecator of the impure blood. 

The habit of decision tends to keep the faculty 
of concrete judgment at work until a decision is 
reached; and similarly the falciform ligament 
connects the liver with the abdominal wall, and 
thus helps to keep it in position that it may per- 
form its functions. 

Abstract judgment, or judgment of what is 
true, clarifies the mind in the same way that the 
kidneys purify the blood, since it discards every 
opinion which in its view is incorrect and false. 
But no judgment of any value can be formed 
without a full knowledge of the facts in regard to 
a case, and therefore the gathering of the data 
necessary to form a correct judgment is as es- 
sential to the faculty of judging what is true as 
the suprarenal capsules are necessary for the 
proper performance of the uses of the kidneys. 
The tonic and vital influence which these capsules 
exercise upon the kidneys and the muscular sys- 
tem of the body finds its parallel in the fact that 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 213 

it is impossible to judge rightly and act intelli- 
gently in any matter without a knowledge of the 
facts relative to it ; and when such knowledge and 
the capacity to acquire it are absent, as they 
representatively are when the suprarenal cap- 
sules are removed, a great prostration of the 
forces of judgment and action must necessarily 
ensue, and finally the ability to judge and act at 
all must cease. 

The determining whether any essential point 
has been omitted in forming the judgment serves, 
like the physiological action of the ureters with 
their attendant veins and lymphatics, to strain 
carefully the propositions which have been con- 
demned, and to convey them, if no essential factor 
has been neglected, to the region of the mind 
answering to the urinary bladder, where the 
opinions formed by the judgment become mere 
matters of knowledge stored up by the mind. 
But if it is found on examination that any es- 
sential or important point has been omitted in 
the judgment, the case in question is returned 
for reconsideration. As the mind is continually 
forming fresh judgments, it is evident that the 
knowledge of the new cases will crowd out the old 
particulars, which are dismissed from the mind 
just as the urine is emptied from the urinary 
bladder. The refusal to reconsider any case 
which has already been fully considered and de- 
cided acts, like the urethra casting out the urine, 



214 The Mind and the Body- 
to dispose finally of all questions which have been 
thoroughly judged. 

Probably because a healthy liver was taken to 
mean that it was good judgment to do a con- 
templated action, the liver of animals was much 
employed in ancient times for the purpose of 
divination ; as, for instance, by the king of Baby- 
lon, who stood at the parting of two ways and 
looked into the liver. 1 We frequently read in 
the Bible that the Lord tries and searches the 
heart and the reins, and this means that He ex- 
plores and knows the character of man's inspira- 
tional emotions and intellectual judgments, and 
hence his whole emotional and intellectual na- 
ture 2 ; and when the Psalmist says that his reins 
instruct him in the night seasons, 3 his words 
signify that his judgment of truth corrects and 
enlightens his mind in states of obscurity. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, all the above- 
mentioned attributes of judgment are represented 
by Great Britain and Ireland. The liver is ap- 
proximately represented by the western part of 
England, and especially by Wales; the gall- 
bladder is represented by the southwestern pe- 
ninsula of England situated west of the third 
degree of longitude. The falciform ligament is 
represented by the Isle of Man. The kidneys 
are represented approximately by the eastern 

i Ezekiel xxi., 21. 2 Heavenly Arcana, 5385. 

3 Psalms, xvi., 7. 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 215 

part of England, and the suprarenal capsules 
are represented approximately by Scotland. 
The ureters are represented by the Orkney Is- 
lands, the bladder is represented by Ireland, 
and the urethra is represented by the Shetland 
Isles. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies 
of the liver and gall-bladder are the angels who 
are wise in determining what it is good judgment 
to do, and what is practicable and useful. Hence 
these angels reject all visionary, useless, and hurt- 
ful plans and courses of action proposed to them, 
and so purify the whole heaven from many use- 
less and perverse ideas which are preventive of 
true spiritual progress. Their wise conclusions of 
what it is best to do are sent forth, like spiritual 
glycogen, to the angels constituting the muscular 
system of the Greatest Man, and become the 
basis of their actions in many affairs requiring the 
exercise of careful judgment. In this way these 
angels are untrammelled by uncertain delibera- 
tions, and are free to perform their activities with 
the pleasure and zeal begotten of the conviction 
of the wisdom of the projected measures. 

The angels of the liver have also the very im- 
portant function of purifying and training the 
new spirits who come to them through the so- 
cieties of the portal vein. 

There are two general ways through which 
spirits are taken up into heaven from the provinces 



216 The Mind and the Body 

of the stomach and intestines, one through the 
societies of the lacteals and lymphatics, and the 
other through the societies of the portal vein 
and its tributaries. Owing to the large amount 
of fatty particles present in the lacteals, it seems 
probable that the spirits who are taken up into 
heaven through the lacteal societies are they who 
are already in the enjoyment of good life, and who 
have been sufficiently purified by their experi- 
ences in the stomach and intestines to enter upon 
a life of heavenly activity as soon as their different 
capabilities can be ascertained, and their dis- 
tribution to their respective societies accom- 
plished. The spirits, on the contrary, who are 
sent to the province of the liver through the 
portal vein seem to be those who require further 
purification and training before they are fully 
fitted for heavenly living ; and it seems likely that 
such spirits, after their instruction and purifica- 
tion in the province of the liver, are conveyed 
through lymphatic societies to the thoracic duct 
of heaven to be duly distributed from there. It 
is possible, however, as Worcester thinks, 1 that 
some of these purified spirits enter the societies 
of the blood-vessels directly from the liver, thus 
representing in part the stream of purified blood 
flowing from the liver to the heart through the 
vena cava: but Worcester's view, that the new 
spirits who come to the liver through the portal 

i Physiological Correspotuiences, pp. 93-95. 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 217 

vein are more in a life of goodness, and the new 
spirits who enter the lacteals are more in a life of 
truth and the good life which truth teaches, is 
doubtful ; for it is not likely that new spirits would 
be sent to the province of the liver unless they 
needed further purification than they received in 
the stomach and intestines of the Greatest Man, 
and consequently such spirits would be less good, 
if anything, than the lacteal spirits who need no 
additional purification. 

When the new spirits enter the province of the 
liver and gall-bladder, the crude, useless, and dis- 
torted ideas and habits which they bring with 
them are broken up and clarified by the instruc- 
tion received from the angels of this province, 
and they are taught the real meaning and pur- 
pose of human and heavenly life, and are in- 
structed what manner of deeds are required of 
those who would become angels. Purified by 
this wise and useful instruction, and prepared at 
last for their heavenly existence, they are sent 
forth rejoicing to the lymphatic societies, there 
to be sorted according to their capacities, and 
afterward to be distributed by the angels of the 
thoracic duct to their heavenly homes; or it 
may be that they enter the heavenly circulation 
directly from the liver, and so come in due time 
to their own societies. 

Worcester attempts to locate in the province 
of the liver certain places of instruction in the 



218 The Mind and the Body 

other world, 1 but Swedenborg's explicit statement 
that the state of instruction of good spirits takes 
place in the province of the stomach, which is the 
world of spirits, 2 strongly militates against such 
an identification ; and besides the instruction de- 
scribed as given there is instruction in spiritual 
goods and truths, and in the distinction between 
what is spiritual and what is material, and such 
spiritual instruction is more appropriate to the 
stomach as the province of the perception and 
knowledge of spiritual things than to the liver as 
the province of judgment as to what is good to 
do and what is practicable and useful. 

Swedenborg speaks of the gentle gyres of the 
province of the liver, whereby things discordant 
are removed from the minds of new spirits, and 
harmony and unanimity are produced among 
them, which operation is like the purification of 
the blood by the liver from impure and discordant 
elements. 3 He says, also, that the angels consti- 
tuting the gall-bladder are such as have despised 
and discredited what is honorable and pious, and 
describes a kind of vexation in that province, by 
which slow spirits are initiated into greater 
quickness of thinking and speaking. 4 The quick- 
ening influence of the angels of the gall-bladder 
may be due to the tendency of the faculty they 

1 Heaven and Hell, 513-520. 

2 Idem, 512, 516; Apocalypse Revealed, 611, 839. 

3 Heavenly Arcana, 5182, 5183. * Idem, 5186, 5187. 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 219 

represent to direct the mental energies to out- 
ward activity, and hence to use ; and spirits who 
are slow and sluggish in their habits of thinking 
and speaking could scarcely help being accelerated 
by such energetic direction of their thought and 
knowledge to outward and useful activity. The 
reason for these angels having despised in the life 
of the body what is honorable and pious lies per- 
haps in the fact that such a faculty is apt to judge 
the value of everything from the standpoint of 
personal use and advantage. 

The decisive angels of the falciform ligament 
exert a beneficial influence upon the societies of 
the liver, for they induce them to reach promptly 
and to express firmly their decision upon any 
debated question. 

The angels of the suprarenal capsules gather 
the data necessary for the mental operations of 
the angels of the kidneys, and they also supply 
to the angels of the muscular system the knowl- 
edge which is needful for their intelligent action. 
Swedenborg states that the province of the 
suprarenal capsules is constituted by chaste vir- 
gins, who love heavenly thoughts, who draw to 
them the purer things of mentality, and as it were 
transmit them, although seeming to themselves 
to retain them, and who belong to this province 
because they detain the mind in certain things, 
so that the obscurities from which the mind is to 
be purified arise and manifest themselves in a 



220 The Mind and the Body 

coherent series, the removal of which obscurities 
produces a clearer view and influx, and causes the 
interiors to become more open to heaven. 1 The 
fixity of thought here described would certainly 
be characteristic of a faculty which is intent upon 
gathering adequate data upon a subject, which 
moreover are not merely stored up in the memory, 
but are transmitted for the purposes of judgment 
and intelligent action ; and as the faculty repre- 
sented by the suprarenal capsules seeks to learn 
the facts and circumstances bearing on a case, 
and is unwilling that judgment should be passed 
without a knowledge of the data necessary to 
form true judgment, it is apparent why the 
angels of this province should have the power to 
remove obscurities from the mind ; for they are 
able, by communicating to others their true 
knowledge of a matter, to remove much inward 
misapprehension and ill-founded judgment. 

The angels of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and 
urethra perform a use in the Heavenly Man similar 
to that of the angels of the liver, the gall-bladder, 
and the intestines; but they discern and reject 
incorrect and false ideas rather than gross and 
evil habits. Probably a large part of their work 
is of an abstract character, and consists in puri- 
fying the heavens from erroneous ideas ; but they 
also have an important function in rejecting from 
heaven all spirits whose presence would be in- 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 5391; Spiritual Diary, 962, 966, 969. 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 221 

jurious to the heavenly societies. Swedenborg 
tells us that there are two general ways to hell, 
one through the intestinal societies, and the other 
through the urinary societies ; and it seems likely 
that the spirits who are cast out by the intestinal 
angels are they who are in evil and the resultant 
falsities, while the spirits who are rejected by 
the urinary angels are they who are in falsity 
and the evils which falsity teaches. Such false 
spirits, who have succeeded in hiding their false- 
ness from the intestinal societies, and so have 
escaped rejection by them, are admitted into 
heaven along with the good spirits who are taken 
up from the intestines; but their false and dis- 
cordant nature is quickly discovered by the 
angels of the kidneys, and they are promptly 
cast out as urine by the urinary societies. 1 

The angels of the ureters have the duty of 
ascertaining whether any essential point has been 
omitted in the judgments formed by the angels 
of the kidneys ; and if so, they return the matter 
to them for reconsideration. But if no essential 
factor has been neglected, they acquiesce in the 
judgment reached. Hence these angels point out 
defective judgments in the case of any spirits who 
have been unfairly condemned by the angels of 
the kidneys, sending them back by the way of the 
venous or lymphatic societies for further exami- 
nation in the light of the previously unconsidered 

> Heavenly Arcana, 5387-5390. 



222 The Mind and the Body 

evidence; but they remove from the province 
of the kidneys, and convey to the bladder, all 
false spirits whose judgment has been justly 
pronounced. 

The angels of the bladder collect the results of 
the judgments of the societies of the kidneys and 
ureters, and store up a fund of information in 
regard to them. They also receive the false and 
unclean spirits whose judgment has been pro- 
nounced and confirmed by the angels of the kid- 
neys and ureters; and when the accumulated 
number of such spirits becomes unwieldy, they 
eject them into the societies of the urethra. 

The angels of the urethra complete the work of 
the foregoing urinary societies ; for they refuse to 
reconsider the just judgments which have been 
passed, and so discard for good all false ideas. 
They also reject firmly and permanently the 
false and fraudulent spirits who have been turned 
over to them by the angels of the bladder. 

Swedenborg informs us that they who constitute 
the province of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder 
in the Greatest Man delight in dispelling falsities 
from truths, and are fond of exploring the minds 
of others in order to find occasion to condemn and 
to correct: 



"The spirits who form the kidneys are they who 
wish to dispel falsities from truths, and thus to purify 
spiritual things." 



Liver, Kidneys, and Bladder 223 

"They who constitute the province of the kidneys, 
ureters, and bladder in the Greatest Man are of such 
a genius that they like nothing better than to explore 
and search out the quality of others, and there are 
also some who desire to chastise and to punish, if 
only there is some justice in it. The functions also 
of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder are such; for 
they explore the blood thrown into them to see if 
there is any useless and hurtful serum there, and they 
also separate it from the useful, and afterward chas- 
tise it, for they drive it down toward the lower re- 
gions, and in the way and afterward they agitate it 
in various ways. These are the functions of those 
who constitute the province of the above parts. But 
the spirits and societies of spirits to which the urine 
itself, especially fetid urine, corresponds, are infer- 
nal; for as soon as the urine is separated from the 
blood, although it is in the little tubes of the kidneys, 
or within in the bladder, still it is out of the body, 
for what is separated no longer circulates in the 
body, hence it contributes nothing to the existence 
and subsistence of its parts. I have often observed 
that they who constitute the province of the kidneys 
and ureters are quick to explore and search out the 
quality of others, what they think and what they 
will, and that they are in the desire of finding occa- 
sion to condemn, for the end especially that they 
may chastise; and I have spoken with them con- 
cerning that desire and end. Many of that kind, 
when they lived in the world, were judges; and they 
then rejoiced in heart when they found cause, which 
they believed to be just, to fine, chastise, and punish. 
The operation of such is felt at the region of the back, 



224 The Mind and the Body 

where are the kidneys, ureters, and bladder. They 
who belong to the bladder extend themselves to- 
ward hell, where also some of them sit as it were in 
judgment." ' 

1 Spiritual Diary, 3679; Heavenly Arcana, 5381, 5382. 




THE SPLEEN AND THE PANCREAS 

THE spleen is a sponge-like gland situated on 
the left side of the abdomen under the 
diaphragm. The functions of the spleen are very 
obscure, and none of the views on the subject 
have as yet been thoroughly established. Inas- 
much as the blood of the splenic vein contains 
more white corpuscles than that of the splenic 
artery, it is inferred that white corpuscles are 
produced in the spleen, and hence that the spleen 
has a functional relationship to the lymphatic 
glands. Owing to the large size which the spleen 
attains toward the end of the digestive process, 
when there is a great increase of granular al- 
buminous plasma within it, and a subsequent 
gradual decrease of this material, it is thought 
that the spleen is concerned in storing up some of 
the proteid food which has been absorbed, the 
same being gradually introduced into the blood 
according to the demands of the general system. 
It was supposed by older physiologists that the 
spleen destroys the effete red corpuscles of the 
blood, but this opinion is now largely abandoned ; 



226 The Mind and the Body 

and in fact Swedenborg contends that the spleen 
has no power to destroy the corpuscles of the 
blood, but only to separate those adhering 
together. 1 A more recent view on the subject is 
that new red corpuscles are formed in the spleen. 
Swedenborg's theory is that the main use of the 
spleen is to draw off the impure blood, and break 
it up and prepare it, so that it may serve the liver 
for its office of purification, and as a solvent for 
refining the chyle. Hence its principal function, 
in his opinion, is to produce a free and lively 
blood by separating all the mischievous coagula- 
tions and accretions contained in the arterial 
blood received through the splenic artery. 2 

The pancreas is a long gland, of soft structure 
and lobed appearance, which lies across the 
posterior wall of the abdomen, with its left end 
touching the spleen and its right end resting in 
the curve of the duodenum. The large pancreatic 
duct runs along the middle of the pancreas, re- 
ceiving on its course many tributary ducts, and 
it makes a juncture with the common bile duct 
just before piercing the wall of the duodenum. 

The most obvious function of the pancreas is 
the secretion of the pancreatic fluid for the pur- 
poses of digestion, but it has other important 
uses. If the pancreas is removed from an animal, 
a large quantity of sugar speedily appears in the 
urine, and the animal wastes away. The same 

> Animal Kingdom, 246, note k. * Idem, 244, 246. 



The Spleen and the Pancreas 227 

condition is often observed in man, when it is 
known as diabetes, and in some cases of diabetes 
the pancreas is found to be diseased. As these 
symptoms are not caused by the loss of the 
pancreatic fluid proper to this organ, it is probable 
that the pancreas, by means of an internal 
secretion, plays some important part in the 
nutrition of the body. 

The splenic vein, which returns the blood from 
the spleen, receives also small veins from the 
pancreas, and the blood from both these organs 
is conveyed through the portal vein to the liver 
for treatment. 

Although they are placed in juxtaposition and 
exert a mutual influence over each other, the 
spleen and the pancreas really correspond to 
opposite faculties ; for the spleen corresponds to 
the faculty of analysis, while the pancreas cor- 
responds to the faculty of synthesis. 

Their physiological functions give evidence of 
such correspondence. It is the nature of the 
analytical faculty to break up and separate 
things into their component parts, and this men- 
tal proclivity is mirrored in the function exercised 
by the spleen of breaking up and resolving into 
simpler elements the adhesions contained in the 
blood. The same analytical tendency is dis- 
played in the production of white, and perhaps 
red, corpuscles by the spleen, which no doubt 
results from division rather than creation. A 



228 The Mind and the Body 

similar multiplication of the white corpuscles 
takes place in the lymphatic glands, for these 
glands differentiate the corpuscles according to 
their respective capabilities and functions. It is 
also an attribute of analysis to study a trouble- 
some situation analytically, and then form a plan 
of procedure that will obviate the difficulties of 
the case; and such plan regulates the course of 
action in future occurrences, and is put into opera- 
tion whenever any of the circumstances for which 
it was framed arises. This aspect of the analyti- 
cal faculty may be represented by the spleen's al- 
leged function of storing up some of the absorbed 
proteid food, and introducing it into the system 
as needed. 

On the other hand, it is the nature of the 
synthetical faculty to gather a wide range of 
trustworthy facts bearing on a subject, and then 
to construct these facts into a coherent system by 
originating a theory which will interpret them all. 
Such mental operations are portrayed in the 
functions of the pancreas; for it sends forth the 
pancreatic juice to gather and digest all the good 
materials of food contained in the intestines, and 
when the uncombined mass of digestive products 
is brought to it in the stream of arterial blood, 
it doubtless supplies the cohesive secretion neces- 
sary to unite all these separate and incoherent 
elements into a form capable of being received 
and built up into the system. Loose, uncon- 



The Spleen and the Pancreas 229 

nected facts are not capable of being assimilated 
by the mind until they have been reduced to 
order and system by a general theory explaining 
them, and the function exercised by the pancreas 
of controlling the nutrition of the body seems to 
represent this mental nutritive power of synthesis. 
The secreting cells of the pancreas contain 
numerous highly refracting granules, which are 
precursors of the secretion. At the beginning of 
digestion these granules disappear, but afterward 
the zone occupied by them increases to such an 
extent that it fills nearly the entire cell. The 
meaning of this phenomenon seems to be that 
the first granules represent the facts already 
possessed by the mind, which the faculty of 
synthesis acts upon in the effort to form a general 
theory which will construct the facts into an 
organic system; but the mind usually requires 
additional pertinent facts in order that it may 
view the subject in its entirety, and form a com- 
prehensive and reliable theory, and this reaching 
out for further and complete information is repre- 
sented by the secretion which is poured forth 
from the pancreas as the pancreatic juice. When 
these new facts are brought to the mind by the 
process of mental digestion, the old particulars 
are laid aside for the consideration of the new 
ones, which operation is like the disappearance 
of the granules at the beginning of digestion, and 
their multiplication afterward. 



230 The Mind and the Body 

Diabetes, in which too much sugar is formed in 
the system, and which is often attended by a 
diseased condition of the pancreas, seems to cor- 
respond to the state of mind which takes great 
pleasure in learning a lot of disconnected facts, 
but is very deficient in the power to give these 
facts unity and value through combining them by 
a central and explanatory theory into an organic 
whole. The mind cannot be healthy, nor indeed 
can mental activities continue to exist, if the fa- 
culty of combining separate and isolated facts 
into some general conception is undeveloped or 
entirely wanting. 

The circumstance that the venous blood from 
both the spleen and the pancreas is conveyed to 
the liver for purification and union with the new 
chyle seems to represent that the obscurities as to 
outward action which the faculties of analysis and 
synthesis are unable to dispel are remanded for 
enlightenment or removal to the faculty of judg- 
ment what to do and what is feasible and useful ; 
while the analytical and synthetic ideas they 
furnish are united with its own fresh knowledge 
by such judgment, and the whole is harmonized 
and made the basis of new possibilities of wise 
goodness and usefulness. 

The faculty of analysis performs an important 
use in the mind by separating and breaking up 
the old, outworn elements which need to be dis- 
carded ; and the faculty of synthesis performs the 



The Spleen and the Pancreas 231 

still more important use of combining the new 
elements of knowledge into a form capable of 
nourishing and sustaining the mind's activities. 

Although Worcester has failed to see the cor- 
respondence of the pancreas, he has admirably 
interpreted, in the following passage, the function 
of the spleen : 

"As the use of the spleen is to prepare the blood 
so that in the liver the pure, living portion may unite 
readily with the new chyle, and the hard, unelastic 
particles may be separated and rejected, the spiritual 
work of the spleen of the mind is to examine the 
thoughts of the heart, and prepare them to unite 
readily with new ideas, affections, and satisfactions 
which come to us in our work and social intercourse 
with the community. In the spleen of the mind the 
thoughts are drawn out into a quiet chamber, apart 
from the busy circulation, and there the feelings and 
opinions that are beginning to make trouble are can- 
didly inspected, and those elements which do not 
agree with the practical life of charity are detached 
from those that are alive and willing, and are made 
ready for speedy rejection. Their hold upon the 
mind is loosened, so that when the opportunity for 
usefulness comes they are immediately given up. 
Minds in which this work is not well done, which 
adhere tenaciously to by-gones, and therefore do not 
come into pleasant relations with new things that are 
both true and good, but are disposed to complain of 
evils which arise simply from their own lack of sym- 
pathy and charity, are popularly called 'spleeny'; 



232 The Mind and the Body 

perhaps from a common perception or tradition of 
the uses of the spleen surpassing the medical science 
of the present day." ' 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the spleen is 
represented by France, and the pancreas is repre- 
sented approximately by Germany. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the spleen are the angels who love to analyze, to 
think analytically, and to devise plans of pro- 
cedure in frictional affairs that will obviate the 
difficulties in the way. Their peculiar habits of 
thought enable them to clear away many ob- 
scurities that would otherwise exist in the minds 
of the angels in general ; for they analyze ideas 
and reduce them to their simplest forms, and so 
ascertain exactly of what they consist. The 
angels of the spleen perform an important service 
in the Heavenly Economy; for they disintegrate, 
and so prepare for rejection, elements of thought 
and feeling which have been outgrown by the 
heavens, and also false and evil elements in- 
juriously joined to things that are good and true, 
all which need to be separated and removed in 
order that new and purer thoughts and feelings 
may be adopted. Such a process must be con- 
stantly taking place in heaven ; for in order that 
the angels may grow more perfect, their old, per- 
verted, and narrow ideas and states of feeling 
need to be broken up and dissolved, as the angels 

1 Physiological Correspondences, pp. 119-121 



The Spleen and the Pancreas 233 

are thus prepared to receive truer views and wider, 
better sympathies and emotions. 

Doubtless many angels who require special 
discipline in this direction come to the province 
of the spleen in order that such disintegration and 
removal of effete ideas and habits may be facili- 
tated; and the critical analysis of the angels of 
this province must quickly detect the presence 
of any evil spirits who may have insinuated them- 
selves into the company of good spirits, and these 
would be speedily detached for rejection. All 
the effete elements and perverse spirits so sepa- 
rated from the living and good by the angels of 
the spleen are conveyed through the societies of 
the splenic and portal veins to the province of the 
liver, where they are promptly removed as use- 
less and obstructive, and become like the ex- 
crementitious bile discharged into the intestines. 

The societies of the pancreas are the angels 
who delight in gathering exact and complete 
knowledge on a subject, in order to formulate the 
facts into a comprehensive and adequate system. 
Their theoretical ideas are useful to the heavens, 
because they constitute a central nucleus around 
which other facts may be grouped, and thus order 
and system may be introduced into the chaos of 
the disconnected facts of knowledge. Even when 
such theories are not absolutely correct, they are 
valuable as working hypotheses until the exact 
truth can be fully demonstrated. 



234 The Mind and the Body 

No doubt angels who are in special need of 
fresh, constructive ideas are sent to the province 
of the pancreas to have their thoughts expanded 
and their sympathies widened by the broad 
mental food there furnished. 

The angels of the pancreas perform a vital ser- 
vice in the Heavenly Man ; for they especially are 
concerned with building up individual spirits, so 
different in their natures, into a unified whole. 
They send emissaries, represented by the pan- 
creatic juice, among the new spirits who have 
arrived in the intestinal societies, and gather 
from every quarter all worthy spirits who are 
capable of being incorporated into the Greatest 
Man. When these novitiate spirits are brought 
to the province of the pancreas by the appropriate 
arterial societies, the pancreatic angels endeavor 
to establish a sympathetic bond among them, 
and to combine the different individuals into a 
harmonious whole, in order that they may be 
readily accepted and assimilated by the heavenly 
societies to which they belong. Indeed it is 
probable that the first initiation of most spirits 
into heavenly order and unity is accomplished in 
the pancreas. After such efforts on the part of 
the pancreatic angels, the novitiate spirits are 
dispatched through the societies of the pan- 
creatic, splenic, and portal veins to the province 
of the liver, where the preparatory work of 
purification and initiation is completed. 



The Spleen and the Pancreas 235 

Hence the angels of the spleen and the angels 
of the pancreas have opposite, but supplementary, 
functions; for the former assist in breaking up 
and separating effete and narrow forms of thought 
and feeling, while the latter aid in the upbuild- 
ing of fresh, comprehensive forms suitable for 
heavenly life. 




THE OMENTUM 

THE great omentum is a large fold of mem- 
brane, usually more or less loaded with fat, 
which is suspended from the stomach and the 
transverse colon, and hangs down in front of the 
intestines like an apron. An upward prolonga- 
tion of the great omentum, known as the gastro- 
splenic omentum, runs from the stomach to the 
spleen. The small omentum, which is thinner and 
more transparent than the other, extends from the 
stomach to the liver. These omenta, together with 
the adjacent membranes and viscera, form a small 
sac, which communicates, through the foramen of 
Win slow, with the large sac of the peritoneum. 

Swedenborg's teaching in regard to the func- 
tions of the omentum, which accords in the main 
with current physiology on the subject, is that 
the omentum stores up deposits of fat for the 
future use of the system, protects the invested 
viscera from changes of temperature, and ex- 
hales an oily vapor to lubricate the visceral sur- 
faces moving over one another. 1 

The great omentum corresponds to the faculty 

i Animal Kingdom, 259-265. 
236 



The Omentum 237 

of contentment, and the small omentum, more 
interiorly situated and of a more delicate struc- 
ture, seems to correspond to contentedness to be 
led by the Lord. 

A contented frame of mind is a source of 
serenity and quiet enjoyment, and these attri- 
butes of contentment are reflected in the omen- 
tum's functions. The fat which the omentum 
collects and deposits is like the enjoyments in 
the good things of life which contentment gathers 
to itself; the protection which the omentum 
affords against the injurious effects of heat and 
cold is like the protection which contentment 
lends against excited greed or intense depression ; 
and the oily vapor distilled by the omentum to 
lubricate the abdominal viscera is like the cheerful 
serenity which is the gift of contentedness, and 
which enables the mind to work quietly and 
smoothly. Contentment also drives away bitter 
and dissatisfied thoughts and feelings which in- 
fect the mind and impede its healthful activities, 
a physiological function which is singularly akin 
to the use of the rich oil of the omentum in 
softening and dispelling acrid and saline sub- 
stances, and preventing them from spoiling the 
exquisite works of the human mechanism. 

It seems probable that "the fat covering the 
intestines" made use of in the Jewish sacrifices 
was the great omentum, and that "the fat upon 
the liver" was the small omentum. 



238 The Mind and the Body 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the omentum 
is represented by the Congo Free State. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the omentum are the angels who live in supreme 
contentment, and who are satisfied to be led by 
the Lord and not by themselves. Their peaceful 
enjoyment of heavenly life, unclouded by any 
shadow of discontent, they freely impart like an 
oil of joy to the other angels whenever selfish and 
unattainable cravings arise in their minds and 
threaten their happiness. Happily contented 
with their lot whatever it may be, and willing as 
a child to follow the Lord's leadings, the angels 
of the omentum influence for good the whole 
heaven, removing dissatisfied and disquieting 
emotions, and instilling in their stead the sweet 
serenity of contentment. 

It is possible, as Worcester suggests, that good 
spirits who have been taken up from the intes- 
tinal societies are often detained in the province 
of the omentum until the time is ripe for their 
being conducted to their own societies, and that 
such detained spirits, who meanwhile are learning 
the lesson of spiritual and natural contentment, 
are those whom Swedenborg describes as being 
kept concealed in many places in the lower earth, 
where they live cheerfully and worship the Lord : 

"Such quiet places, where hell is not known and 
where the good dwell cheerfully together, cannot be 



The Omentum 



239 



in the intestines, through which evil is continually- 
passing, and where painful vastations are always going 
on. But the omenta covering the intestines, and 
the various deposits among them, are in nearly the 
same situation relatively to the stomach, and though 
very near the evil may not be at all disturbed by 
them. The deposits in the liver, also, though so near 
the evil in the gall-bladder, are perfectly protected 
from them, and may well represent a peaceful, gentle 
life in waiting for freer opportunities." ' 

» Physiological Correspondences, pp. 128, 129. 




THE PERITONEUM AND THE MESENTERY 

THE peritoneum is a large, elastic membrane, 
consisting of two layers, which lines the 
cavity of the abdomen and invests most of the 
viscera. The peritoneum unites the abdominal 
viscera in a common bond, and communicates to 
them the alternate expansions and contractions 
of the thorax. 

The mesentery is a broad, fan-shaped fold of 
the peritoneum, which attaches the small intestine 
to the back of the abdomen. Between the layers 
of the mesentery lie the blood-vessels, nerves, and 
lacteals which supply the intestines. These lac- 
teals, which absorb the chyle from the intestines, 
pursue tortuous paths in the mesentery, and pass 
through numerous lymphatic glands there on 
their way to the receptacle of the chyle. Similar 
folds of peritoneum connect portions of the large 
intestine to the rear abdominal wall or otherwise 
hold them in position. 

The chief functions of the peritoneum and the 
mesentery are to support and keep in place the 
viscera they invest, and to reduce the forces and 
240 



Peritoneum and Mesentery 241 

movements of all to one constant standard, thus 
repressing undue impetuosity and quelling in- 
jurious disturbance. 1 In the performance of 
these duties, the peritoneum and mesentery are 
subjected to considerable strain and friction from 
the operations of the abdominal organs. 

The great similarity in structure and function 
between the peritoneum and the mesentery 
shows that they have a similar correspondence, 
and their elastic ability to receive and neutralize 
any extraordinary movements of the viscera they 
enclose, and quietly to restore them to natural 
and orderly motions, indicates some calm and 
patient quality. As the mesentery is the more 
interiorly located, it must correspond to a more 
interior faculty. 

The peritoneum corresponds to the faculty of 
endurance or fortitude, and the mesentery cor- 
responds to the faculty of equanimity. 

The faculty of endurance bears passively, with- 
out resistance or complaint, many unpleasant and 
even painful impressions, and is capable of sus- 
taining a great deal of disagreeable pressure with- 
out unduly yielding or becoming aggressively 
angry. In the same way the peritoneum is a 
wide, elastic membrane, able to receive severe 
strains from many sources without breaking and 
without reacting violently to them. 

The faculty of equanimity preserves a tranquil 

» Animal Kingdom, 320, 322. 



242 The Mind and the Body 

composure of mind in the midst of unpleasant 
happenings or rude affronts, being determined not 
to be disturbed by petty irritations ; and similarly 
the mesentery bears serenely and composedly the 
frictional twistings of the coils of the small in- 
testine, which it holds quietly, yet firmly, in its 
grasp in spite of their writhings. 

Such quiet endurance and imperturbable equa- 
nimity are very necessary to the faculties which 
are concerned with the careful sifting out and re- 
jection of all evil and useless elements from the 
mind, and with the patient examination and 
preparation of the good and true elements, duties 
which for the most part are representatively per- 
formed by the viscera of the abdomen; for they 
enable these faculties to keep on with their work 
in the midst of irritating surroundings, and help 
to reduce them to order and tranquillity whenever 
any unruly and resentful passions temporarily 
possess them. The faculty of analysis, as repre- 
sented by the spleen, seems to have less endurance 
in its activities than the other abdominal faculties ; 
for the spleen lies outside of the peritoneum, and 
seems to be unconnected with the peritoneum 
proper. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the peritoneum 
is represented approximately by Portuguese East 
Africa, and the mesentery is represented ap- 
proximately by British Central Africa. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 



Peritoneum and Mesentery 243 

the peritoneum are the angels who by their ability 
to endure unpleasant things uncomplainingly are 
peculiarly fitted to unite all the abdominal so- 
cieties into a common whole. By their passive 
and patient endurance they accommodate these 
societies to one another, and in case of unusual 
disturbance they bring them back from passion- 
ate vehemence to peaceful order. No doubt the 
angels of the peritoneum render important service 
to men on earth in times of great temptation, 
when it is imperative for their spiritual welfare 
that they endure distressing experiences without 
yielding. The influence of the peritoneal angels 
must also be of great assistance to the abdominal 
societies of heaven in enabling them to bear 
quietly and patiently the many wearing ex- 
periences they have to undergo in separating the 
good from evil spirits, and preparing the good and 
rejecting the evil. 

Swedenborg speaks of the endurance of the 
spirits relating to the peritoneum, who bore 
quietly and unresentfully the attacks of other 
spirits until they found that modesty was of no 
avail ; and he states that they do nothing from 
themselves, but from others, in like manner as the 
peritoneum is passive in its functions, being acted 
upon by the diaphragm and the abdominal 
organs. 1 

The societies of the mesentery are the angels 

» Heavenly Arcana, 5378. 



244 The Mind and the Body 

who cultivate inward tranquillity of mind rather 
than pure endurance. These societies surround 
those of the small intestine, and between their 
serried ranks extend the societies of the mesen- 
teric lacteals and lymphatic glands, whose func- 
tion it is to receive and sort the good spirits who 
are taken up like chyle from the intestines of the 
Greatest Man. The even serenity of the mesen- 
teric angels is a great support and aid to the 
intestinal and lacteal societies, who have to come 
in contact with so many different kinds of human- 
ity, and who, in dealing with them, are called upon 
to bear tranquilly and with unruffled spirits many 
exasperating occurrences. 

The labyrinthine course, dotted with numerous 
lymphatic glands, which characterizes the lacteals 
of the mesentery, represents the many ways and 
associations into which new spirits are led by the 
angels of the lacteal societies in the effort to 
ascertain their true aptitudes and capabilities 
before the spirits are distributed to their re- 
spective homes. 1 

i Divine Providence, 164; Heavenly Arcana, 5 181. 




THE BUTTOCKS 

THE buttocks consist mainly of the three glu- 
teal muscles ; and the roundness and promi- 
nence of this region are due chiefly to the amount 
of fat in the superficial tissue, a feature which is 
usually more pronounced in females than in 
males. 

The gluteus maximus muscle is four-sided in 
shape, and is the coarsest and heaviest muscle 
in the body. Its action abducts the thigh, and 
rotates it outward, thereby enabling the body to 
sit down comfortably; it also extends the thigh 
bone upon the pelvis, and thus serves to raise the 
body from the sitting to the erect position. In 
walking it acts from the thigh to the pelvis, 
maintaining the body erect, and it also aids in 
propelling the body in running and leaping. The 
gluteus medius muscle is fan-shaped, and its 
action from the pelvis is to abduct the thigh and 
to rotate it inward, while acting from the thigh 
bone it extends the pelvis outward, thereby help- 
ing to balance it when a person is standing on 
one leg. The gluteus minimus muscle is similar 
245 



246 The Mind and the Body- 
in shape to the gluteus medius, with which it is 
closely associated for a part of its course; its 
main action is to assist the other gluteal muscles 
in balancing the pelvis. 

The buttocks correspond to the faculty of as- 
surance, the gluteus maximus muscle correspond- 
ing to emotional assurance, and the gluteus 
medius and gluteus minimus muscles correspond- 
ing to intellectual assurance. 

Assurance is a self-possession of mind which 
prevents a person from becoming embarrassed or 
dismayed by the presence of others, and which 
serves to give confidence and freedom to the out- 
ward activities; and answering to these mental 
functions the buttocks provide a strong cushion 
for the body where it may sit and rest in comfort, 
and the gluteal muscles enable the lower part of 
the body to balance itself, and to perform its 
motor actions easily and confidently. 

The location of the buttocks at the rear of the 
pelvis is apposite; for the pelvis corresponds to 
the love of doing no work, and on the one hand 
cessation from active labor and consequent idle- 
ness tends to give assurance to the mind, while 
on the other hand assurance as to the means of 
livelihood is needful for the maintenance of a 
spirit of indolence and recreation. 

Although a woman as compared with a man has 
more fat in the superficial tissues of the body, 
a circumstance which gives her form superior 



The Buttocks 247 

roundness and beauty of contour, and which no 
doubt is due to her greater emotionality, for fat 
corresponds to emotional enjoyment, the larger 
development of fat in the buttocks of women 
seems to answer to the feminine fondness for 
feelings of assurance; for women are usually 
more marked than men in their desire for sure 
incomes and assured conditions, and are there- 
fore less inclined to take risks or to depend upon 
uncertainties even when there is a likelihood of 
considerably larger returns. 

From the region of the buttocks projects the 
tail of animals; but man has no tail. The tail 
of an animal seems to correspond to the enjoy- 
ment in being the affection itself ; for the affection 
itself is represented by the head of an animal, and 
the tail is a direct continuation of the head. 
Such enjoyment is proper to brutes, because 
animals are nothing but the affection which they 
represent, and their constant enjoyment in their 
own specific affection prevents them from enter- 
ing into any other affection. Man, however, has 
no such limitations, but at different times may 
take on the nature of a sheep, a goat, a horse, or 
any other animal; whereas if he had a tail, he 
would always be confined to the one affection of 
living spiritually, for man corresponds to the love 
of living spiritually in imitation of the Divine 
life. 

The scriptural prophecy that Assyria should 



248 The Mind and the Body 

lead Egypt and Ethiopia into captivity with their 
buttocks uncovered 1 seems to mean that the 
reason would overthrow the mere knowledge of 
supernatural things and the fallacious thoughts 
founded thereon, and would expose and put to 
shame their presumptuous effrontery. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the buttocks 
are represented by Cape Colony, the gluteus 
maximus muscle being represented by the broad 
western portion, and the gluteus medius and 
minimus muscles by the narrower eastern portion. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the buttocks are the angels whose strongest trait 
is unabashed assurance, and their chief function 
consists in communicating such calm assurance 
for the common weal. Through their knowledge 
of what they have done or can do, these angels 
possess faith in their own abilities, and also lend 
confidence to the other angelic societies in their 
various undertakings. So, too, whenever the 
whole heaven moves as one man, the angels of 
the buttocks furnish the same motor forces that 
the gluteal muscles supply in the body. 

i Isaiah xx., 4. 




THE GENITALS 

THE male and the female generative organs ex- 
hibit a greater difference between the sexes 
than any other part of the human anatomy; and 
it is evident that this great difference is owing to 
the fact that the male generative organs are con- 
structed for the secretion and communication of 
the semen, while the female generative organs 
are constructed for the reception of the semen, 
and the consequent production of offspring. 

Although so different anatomically, there is a 
general analogy between the male and the female 
organs of generation, and therefore they will be 
described together. 

In the male, the scrotum is the pouch of skin 
which contains and protects the delicate testicles. 
The equivalent of the scrotum in the female is the 
folds of skin known as the labia, or lips, which lie 
at the outward entrance of the female generative 
organs. These are developed in the embryo 
from the same genital folds as the scrotum, and 
they have a similar function of covering and 
protecting the more delicate inward structures. 
249 



250 The Mind and the Body 

The testicles are the delicate glandular organs, 
consisting mainly of an immense number of little 
tubes, which have the function of producing the 
spermatozoa, — minute, thread-like bodies which 
are the essential fertilizing element of the semen. 
The inmost substance of the semen, however, is 
drawn by the testicles from the nerve fluid and 
from the blood, and is not formed in the testicles 
themselves, which merely furnish a covering for 
this interior substance. 1 Moreover, the sperma- 
tozoa, as they exist in the testicles, are quiescent, 
and have no power to cause fertilization until the 
secretions of the accessory male genital organs are 
added to the secretion of the testicles. 

The female organ analogous to the testicles is 
the vagina, a membranous canal extending from 
the external female generative organs to the 
uterus or womb. As the testicles are the primary 
organs in the secretion of the semen, so the 
vagina is the first of the female organs to receive 
the semen and the penis communicating it; but 
just as the semen of the testicles, in order to be- 
come active and prolific, needs the formative in- 
fluence of the other generative organs, so the 
vagina, although it first receives the semen, has 
no ability to become impregnated by it, but only 
gives it passage toward the other female organs 
which possess the reproductive capacity. 

The semeniferous tubules of the testicles empty 

» Generative Organs, 9, 18, 26, 33, 34. 



The Genitals 251 

into the epididymis, which constitutes the first 
and greatly convoluted part of the duct of the 
testicles. From the epididymis begins a long, 
narrow tube, called the vas deferens, which ex- 
tends to the base of the bladder, where it enlarges 
into what is known as the ampulla of Henle. 
The vas deferens is an important storehouse of 
the semen, and its glands contribute a necessary 
part to the seminal fluid. At the termination of 
each vas deferens are situated the seminal vesi- 
cles, — small branched sacs, the primary function 
of which is to supply an additional fluid to the 
semen, although they also act as reservoirs for 
the seminal secretion. Near the openings into 
the urethra through which the seminal vesicles 
pour the semen, lie the numerous openings of 
the ducts of the prostate gland, a chestnut- 
shaped organ which completely surrounds the 
urethra in this region, and which contributes a 
viscid secretion to the semen, the specific use of 
which is not known. Swedenborg's theory is that 
the secretion of this gland envelopes and protects 
the semen in its passage through the urethra, and 
prepares the way for its reception. 1 

The uterus, or womb, is a hollow muscular 
organ that extends upward from the vagina. It 
is broad at the upper end, but is constricted at 
its lower extremity into a narrow passage known 
as the neck of the uterus. The uterus receives 

» Generative Organs, 69. 



252 The Mind and the Body 

the semen discharged into the upper part of the 
vagina, or perhaps into the neck of the uterus, and 
affords a passageway for the semen to the Fal- 
lopian tubes, in which the impregnation of the 
ovum is usually accomplished. In case an ovum 
becomes fecundated, the uterus attaches it to its 
wall, provides the incipient foetus with nutriment, 
and expels the child at birth. The two Fallopian 
tubes start at the upper extremity of the uterus, 
and terminate in free ends opening into the 
peritoneal cavity, and having several fringe-like 
processes, one of which, longer than the rest, is 
attached to the ovary. The ovaries are almond- 
shaped organs devoted to the production of the 
ova, the essential female element in fertilization. 
The Fallopian tubes have the double function of 
receiving the semen from the uterus, and of con- 
veying the ovum into the uterus ; and they serve 
to bring together the spermatozoa and the ova, in 
order that impregnation may be effected. During 
the development of the ovarian follicle contain- 
ing the ovum, it gradually approaches the surface 
of the ovary, where it bursts when mature, and 
sets free the ovum. Thereupon the fringe-like 
processes of the Fallopian tube grasp the ovary, 
while the aperture of the tube is applied to the 
spot where the ovum escaped to the exterior of 
the ovary. 

In a general and functional way, the ovaries 
and the Fallopian tubes of the female are analo- 



The Genitals 253 

gous to the epididymes of the male, the uterus is 
the equivalent of the vasa deferentia, and the 
neck of the uterus represents the seminal vesicles ; 
but the analogy is only approximate in the case 
of the ovaries and the Fallopian tubes, which are 
peculiarly feminine organs, and do not answer to 
any male prototypes. In fact, the epididymes 
of the male are really represented in the female 
by blind ducts in the neighborhood of the Fal- 
lopian tubes known as the ducts of the paro- 
varium. It is commonly considered that the 
ovaries in the female, because they produce 
the ova, are the counterpart of the testicles in 
the male, which produce the spermatozoa: but 
such a view overlooks the essential difference be- 
tween the sexual productions of the male and 
those of the female ; for the active and originative 
element is furnished by the male, and the passive 
and reactive element is furnished by the female, 
and these differing elements are not produced by 
corresponding organs of the body any more than 
they are by corresponding parts of the mind. 

The penis is composed mainly of erectile tissue ; 
and its functions are to act as the chief male 
sensory of physical sexual pleasure, and to convey 
the semen through the urethra into the female 
organs of generation. The clitoris of the female, 
which is situated above the entrance to the 
vagina, answers to the male penis. It resembles 
a miniature penis, and is in fact developed from 



254 The Mind and the Body 

the same genital eminence in the embryo. The 
clitoris, like the penis, is the chief female seat of 
physical sexual pleasure. At the base of the 
clitoris, and extending down the sides of the 
vagina, are two oblong masses known as the bulbs 
of the vestibule ; and these belong to the clitoris 
in the same way that the bulb of the corpus 
spongiosum belongs to the penis. 

It is evident that the genitals correspond to 
the faculty of sexual love, for they are devoted 
to sexual activities. The genitals proper fall into 
two general divisions, one of which is constituted 
by the penis and the clitoris with their adjuncts, 
which correspond to the love of physical sexual 
intercourse, and the other of which is constituted 
by the rest of the genitals, which correspond to 
the love of sex as manifested in the communication 
and reception of feelings and ideas. The testicles 
and the vagina correspond to the love of the sex 
as an emotion, being communicative in the case 
of the testicles, and receptive in the case of the 
vagina. The epididymis corresponds to the love 
of the sex as manifested in the communication of 
concrete thought ; the vas deferens corresponds to 
the love of the sex as manifested in the com- 
munication of abstract thought, and the ampulla 
of Henle to the memory of the formulated idea to 
be communicated ; the seminal vesicles correspond 
to the expression of the idea in words; and the 
prostate gland corresponds to replying to the 



The Genitals 255 

questions of others in regard to the idea com- 
municated. 

The scrotum of the male and the labia of the 
female are a part of the skin, and do not belong 
to the genitals proper; they seem to correspond 
to the love of tactual contact with the opposite 
sex. The hair surrounding the genitals, which is 
an outgrowth from the skin, seems to correspond 
to talk with the opposite sex on venereal subjects. 
These things, like the outward genitals repre- 
senting them, serve to cover and protect the more 
internal aspects of the love of the sex. 

The neck of the uterus and the uterus corre- 
spond to the thoughtful reception of the intel- 
lectual elements of the masculine idea, with an 
effort to understand them; the Fallopian tubes 
correspond to the faculty of critically selecting 
from the mass presented such ideas as agree with 
the feminine affection ; and the ovaries correspond 
to the concrete feminine thinking with reference 
to masculine ideas, the ova being the feminine 
thoughts. 

The above correspondences are supported by 
the functions of the several generative organs. 

The testicles correspond to the love of sex as an 
emotion, because they are the first in order of the 
male generative organs, and the most important 
in the formation of the semen; and as the mas- 
culine mind is inmostly emotional and perceptive, 1 

» Marriage Love, 3 2 . 



256 The Mind and the Body 

therefore its essential sexual productions must 
be perceptions, and the testicles must correspond 
to the emotional element of the love of sex, be- 
cause all perception comes from feeling. 1 

The seed of man, according to Swedenborg, is 
conceived interiorly in the understanding, formed 
in the will, and transferred into the testicles, 
where it puts on a natural covering. 2 The 
natural covering provided in the testicles for the 
seed is no doubt the spermatozoa, which seem 
therefore to correspond to masculine perceptions 
in regard to the communication of truth. The 
original perceptions of new truth are formed in 
the brain, and it is only with the communication 
of these perceptions or truths that the testicles 
and the other male generative organs have to do ; 
but these cerebral ideas are first clothed in the 
masculine perceptions as to how they can be 
adequately conveyed to receptive minds, for a 
receptive mind, whether the person is a man or a 
woman, is relatively feminine to the communi- 
cator or propagator of truth which he himself 
has perceived. 

The epididymes correspond to the love of the 
sex as manifested in the communication of con- 
crete thought, because they constitute the first 
part of the duct conveying the semen out of the 
testicles, and imparting to it its first condensation, 

1 Divine Love and Wisdom, 406; Apocalypse Explained, 
47, 405 2 True Christian Religion, 584. 



The Genitals 257 

and the first distinct descent from emotion to a 
lower and denser plane is in concrete thought, 
and the second descent is in abstract thought, 
which, as regards the communication of new 
ideas, is represented by the vasa deferentia. The 
ampullae of Henle correspond to the memory of 
the formulated idea to be communicated, because 
these ampullae are at the termination of the vasa 
deferentia and act as storehouses for the semen, 
just as the next step after the elaboration of a 
perception by means of concrete and abstract 
thought is its reception in the memory as a 
formulated idea. 

The seminal vesicles correspond to the ex- 
pression of the masculine ideas in words, because 
their primary function is to furnish a large part 
of the fluid of the semen, which action is exactly 
similar to the exposition of an idea by the ad- 
dition of suitable words. 

The prostate gland corresponds to the faculty 
of giving answers to the questions of others with 
reference to the idea communicated, because the 
function of its secretion in enveloping and pre- 
paring the semen for reception is precisely like 
the accommodation of the masculine idea to a 
receptive mind by means of such answers. 

The vagina corresponds to the emotional re- 
ception by the female of the sexual emotions and 
perceptions of the male, because the vagina first 
receives the semen and its perceptive spermatozoa 



258 The Mind and the Body 

communicated through the penis, and first recep- 
tion is usually through the emotions or love ; but 
because the feminine sexual function is essentially 
different from the masculine, therefore the vagina 
has no originative function like the testicles, but 
only acts as a means of conveyance to the female 
productive organs. 

It is noteworthy that whereas with the man the 
means of outward conjunction with the female 
is through his love of physical sexual intercourse 
represented by the penis, with the woman, besides 
the love of physical sexual intercourse represented 
by the clitoris, outward receptive conjunction is 
also afforded through the higher love of receiving 
the emotional life of the male, which love is repre- 
sented by the vagina. This difference between 
the male and the female may account in part for 
the fact that while with a man the love of the 
sex is general, with a woman the love of the sex 
is usually confined to one man 1 ; for the love of 
receiving the emotions of one person tends to 
weaken the desire of receiving the emotions of any 
different person, whereas the mere love of physi- 
cal sexual intercourse can be gratified by almost 
any member of the female sex. 

The neck of the uterus and the uterus or womb 
correspond to the thoughtful reception of the 
intellectual elements of the masculine idea with 
an effort to understand them, because this organ 

1 Marriage Love, 296. 



The Genitals 259 

receives the semen interiorly, a function which is 
correspondentially like receiving the intellectual 
elements of the masculine mind. 

The mental uterus is like the vas deferens of 
formulative abstract thought, in that it matures 
within itself, by thought with regard to the ap- 
plication to other facts and circumstances, the 
conceptions which have originated from the 
meeting of the spermatozoon of perception and 
the ovum of thought ; and when the original con- 
ception has been enlarged and developed by such 
formulative meditation, it is given birth in actual 
expression as through the neck of a uterus. 

The Fallopian tubes correspond to woman's 
faculty of critically selecting from the mass pre- 
sented such perceptions as agree with her own 
affection, because as the Fallopian tubes open at 
their extremities into the cavity of the peritoneum, 
it is plain that they exercise a power of choice; 
for unless the tubes grasp the ovaries and bring 
the ova toward the spermatozoa, the spermato- 
zoa would pass through the tubes into the cavity 
of the peritoneum and be lost, and no conception 
would take place. 

The ovaries correspond to the concrete femi- 
nine thinking with reference to masculine ideas, 
and the ova to feminine thoughts, because the 
feminine mind is inmostly intellectual and re- 
ceptive, 1 and therefore its essential productions 

» Marriage Love, 32. 



260 The Mind and the Body 

must be thoughts ; for these are the fruits of the 
intellect, and are formed in the feminine sexual 
thinking faculty just as the ova are formed in the 
ovaries. The follicles in which the ova are de- 
veloped are like the states of meditation out of 
which grow the feminine thoughts. 

As a woman thinks from love, while a man 
thinks from intellect, 1 therefore the whole sexual 
feminine thinking must be affectional or emo- 
tional in its nature; but the feminine thinking 
represented by the uterus is abstract, while that 
represented by the ovaries is concrete. The 
above difference between masculine and feminine 
minds explains why the ova are produced in what 
represents the sexual concrete thought degree of 
the female, and not in the vagina, which repre- 
sents the feminine emotional degree of the love 
of sex, answering to the male testicles. 

As it is masculine to love and to do what is true 
and good, and feminine to think that it is true 
that a thing is good, 2 therefore some sense of the 
goodness of truth must accompany the feminine 
thoughts represented by the ova. At the time of 
the rupture of an ovarian follicle and the escape 
of the ovum, certain changes occur within the 
follicle which result in the production of a yellow- 
ish mass known as the corpus luteum. If the 
ovum is not impregnated, the growth of this 

" Heaven and Hell, 368; Marriage Love, 168, 175. 
2 Marriage Love, 220. 



The Genitals 261 

yellow substance proceeds no farther than the 
formation of a thin layer, which shortly disap- 
pears ; but if the ovum becomes impregnated, the 
substance continues to grow during nearly the 
entire period of gestation, and a large corpus 
luteum is formed, which, although finally dwin- 
dling, remains on the ovaries for a long time after 
the birth of the child as a white, star-shaped 
cicatrix. The corpus luteum seems to correspond 
to this feminine sense of the goodness of truth. 
The thin layer that is formed in the corpus 
luteum when the ovum is not impregnated is a 
woman's superficial feeling of joy in the truth of 
her thought, which soon fades away; but when 
the ovum of feminine thought is enlightened and 
completed by the entrance of the perceptive 
masculine life, her sense of joy in the truth grows 
and deepens as the masculinely inspired pro- 
duction of her mind is modelled and fashioned in 
the plastic womb. Long after the birth of these 
children of the thought, the remembrance of the 
goodness and joy of their truth persists like a 
stellar scar on the ovaries of feminine mentality. 
The correspondential meaning of the growth of 
the fecundated ovum, and the destruction of the 
unfecundated ovum, seems to be that when a 
woman receives a masculine idea which is in ac- 
cord with her affection, she at once brings her con- 
crete thought to bear upon it in order that she may 
fully understand the masculine idea by putting 



262 The Mind and the Body- 

it into ideas growing out of her own knowledge 
and experience, a mental action which is like the 
approach and meeting of the ova and sperma- 
tozoa in the Fallopian tubes. If, however, no 
concordant perceptions present themselves, the 
concrete feminine thought on the subject never- 
theless continues, and goes forth into abstract 
thought and into words, like the passage of the 
unimpregnated ovum into the uterus and the 
neck of the uterus ; but having found no suitable 
masculine perception, it then perishes for want 
of further development, and the energies which 
would have been devoted to the upbuilding of 
new forms of thought and life go to waste, a 
psychological process which is doubtless repre- 
sented by the phenomenon of menstruation, 
which is a physiological sign of disappointed im- 
pregnation. The subsequent growth of the em- 
bryo in the uterus represents the development of 
the original conception, springing from the fusion 
of the masculine perception and the feminine 
thought, by abstract thought on the subject in 
order to perfect the understanding of it, and by 
viewing the embryotic idea in its relation to 
new particulars of knowledge. In this way the 
germinal conception grows gradually into a com- 
plete and well-defined spiritual entity. 

It is Swedenborg's idea that the male seed is 
furnished with a series of clothings as it passes 
through the several male generative organs, and 



The Genitals 263 

that these clothings are successively dissolved or 
removed in the correlative female generative 
organs. 1 If this theory is correct, the clothing of 
words provided by the seminal vesicles is removed 
in the neck of the uterus, which has the function 
of understanding the meaning of the words; the 
clothing of f ormulative abstract thought furnished 
by the vasa deferentia is separated in the uterus, 
which has the function of receiving and under- 
standing such abstract thought; the clothing of 
ideas of concrete thought supplied by the epididy- 
mes is perhaps absorbed in the Fallopian tubes, 
which have the function of selecting suitable 
elements. In this manner the perceptive sper- 
matozoon, which is the first and purest sexual 
embodiment of the inward masculine truth, is set 
free to mate without hindrance with the ovum of 
feminine thought. 

The penis and the clitoris correspond to the love 
of physical sexual intercourse, because the pleasure 
of sexual intercourse resides chiefly in these two 
organs, which moreover are the most external of 
the generative organs proper, and therefore repre- 
sentative of the ultimates of sexual love. The 
diminutive size of the clitoris as compared with 
the penis agrees with the fact that the sexual 
passion is much stronger in men than in women. 2 

The prepuce, or foreskin, which is the free fold 

» Heavenly Arcana, 8847; Generative Organs, 35. 
2 Marriage Love, 219. 



264 The Mind and the Body 

of skin at the extremity of the penis, seems to 
correspond to sensuous desire for sexual inter- 
course; for as a part of the skin the foreskin 
shares in the skin's craving for touch, and it is be- 
sides the most external portion of the penis. On 
account of this correspondence, when mankind 
fell into external and perverted states, the fore- 
skin came to signify sexual lustfulness, and con- 
sequently the perverse and filthy lusts of the 
flesh in general; and the rite of circumcision 
signified the removal of such filthy corporeal 
loves. 1 

Many other branches of the present subject, 
such as spiritual and natural prolification, the 
determination of sex, and regeneration, have been 
admirably treated of by Worcester in his Physio- 
logical Correspondences; and therefore these topics 
need not be discussed here. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the genitals 
proper are represented by Algeria and Tunisia. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the generative organs are the angels who are in 
the marriage of truth and good more than all the 
others, and who in consequence live in a most 
delightful state of peace. 2 

The angels of the testicles and the vagina are 
they who delight in the communication and re- 
ception of the pure and innocent emotions arising 

« Heavenly Arcana, 4462, 7045; Apocalypse Explained, 781. 
2 Heavenly Arcana, 5050-5052. 



The Genitals 265 

from the love of the opposite sex, and the angels 
of the testicles continually draw down from the 
inmost heaven fresh supplies of new truth, which 
by their keen perceptions are converted into forms 
capable of being readily communicated to recep- 
tive minds. The angels of the epididymes and 
the vasa deferentia add the elements of concrete 
and abstract thought necessary to complete the 
communication of the new truth, and the angels 
of the seminal vesicles delight in giving verbal 
expression to the truth in the course of communi- 
cation. The angels of the prostate gland excel 
in accommodating the new truth to intelligent 
and receptive minds by answering their questions 
and thoughts in regard to it. 

The angels of the neck of the uterus and the 
uterus love to receive in a thoughtful and intel- 
ligent way the truth so communicated, and in 
order to understand the truth they divest it of 
its merely verbal clothing, and lay bare the ab- 
stract thought within. The inward ideas thus 
disclosed they pass on to the angels of the Fal- 
lopian tubes, who critically examine them, and 
select such as are in accord with their heavenly 
affections. Such ideas as are in harmony with 
their love they accept, and bring them into inti- 
mate relation with the concrete thoughts of the 
angels of the ovaries, who earnestly desire such 
inner wisdom for the development of their own 
thoughts, in which is their joy. When through 



266 The Mind and the Body 

the instrumentality of the angels of the Fallopian 
tubes the mated masculine perception and femi- 
nine thought become united, the idea thus con- 
ceived flows onward for its further development 
to the angels of the uterus, who by their compre- 
hensive meditations amplify and expand the idea 
until it takes on the rounded form of living truth. 
In this heavenly intercourse the angels of the 
female generative societies supply the elements of 
goodness to the wisdom which they receive from 
the male generative societies. 

There are no natural births in heaven, but 
there are spiritual births of new truths and 
goods ! ; for the natural masculine love of be- 
getting children is there converted into the 
spiritual love of having the truths which have 
been perceived developed by receptive minds into 
new forms by application to new lines of thought 
and life, and the natural feminine love of bearing 
children becomes there the spiritual love of de- 
veloping the communicated truth into such new 
intellectual and emotional forms by building it 
into one's own thought and experience. 

Such communication of lofty wisdom on the 
part of the male generative societies of heaven, 
and such reception and development of wisdom, 
together with a sense of joy in the truth, on the 
part of the female generative societies, must be 
constantly taking place, and the angels who par- 

> Heaven and Hell, 382; Marriage Love, 52. 



The Genitals 267 

ticipate in this interchange must needs be in a 
state of peace and deep joy; for their happiness 
springs from the union of wisdom and goodness, 
in which is the fullest reception of the Lord. 

The ultimate element of the marriage love ex- 
isting between these male and female societies is 
furnished by the angels of the penis and the 
clitoris, who above all the other angels delight in 
physical sexual union. 

The genital societies which relate to the parts of 
the skin and the hair covering the more inward 
genitals serve as a suitable covering and protection 
for the other genital societies by reason of their 
love of outward contact with the opposite sex and 
their warm expressions on sexual subjects. 

The angels of the generative societies also have 
many functions in relation to men on earth; for 
they have charge over foetuses in the womb, whom 
they love tenderly and help to nourish and per- 
fect. 1 They also inspire into man the sexual 
faculty, and assist him in his regeneration, and 
they perhaps are entrusted with the task of pro- 
viding for the birth of the kind of men and women 
the world and heaven need for the production of 
a complete organic social fabric. 2 

> Heavenly Arcana, 5052; Spiritual Diary, 1201, 3152. 
* Worcester, Physiological Correspondences, pp. 353-356. 



THE BREASTS 



THE breasts, or mammary glands, are the 
hemispherical prominences situated on the 
pectoral muscles of the chest, near the summits 
of which are the conical eminences known as the 
nipples. The breasts consist of fibrous and fatty- 
tissue, in which are embedded numerous glandular 
lobules. These lobules unite to form larger lobes, 
and are furnished with ducts communicating 
with the exterior through orifices in the nipples. 

In the female the mammary organs have the 
function of secreting the milk, but in the male 
they are rudimental. In the female these glands 
are connected through the blood with the genera- 
tive system; for prior to pregnancy they are 
smaller and less developed, while during preg- 
nancy they enlarge and a number of changes 
occur within them. The breasts seem also to be 
connected with the generative organs through the 
nervous system, 1 although this point as yet lacks 
demonstration. 

The function of the pectoralis major muscle is 

1 Generative Organs, "The Mammae," 18. 
268 



The Breasts 269 

chiefly to draw the arm forward and rotate it 
inward upon the chest, and the function of the 
pectoralis minor muscle is to depress the shoulder, 
and thus lower the arm. 

The breasts correspond to the love of children ; 
the lacteal apparatus, consisting of lobes, ducts, 
and nipples, corresponds to the love of instructing 
little children, the milk being the instruction; 
and the pectoral muscles upon which the breasts 
lie correspond to the love of sheltering and pro- 
tecting offspring. 

It is plain that the breasts correspond to the 
love of children ; for a mother, in manifestation 
of her affection, presses her babe to her bosom, 
and suckles it there out of the fulness of her love. 
The milk corresponds to suitable instruction for 
little children, because it is by means of instruc- 
tion adapting it to its new surroundings that a 
little child grows spiritually, before the power of 
examining for itself the fitness of ideas to be ac- 
cepted, or the ability of assimilating ordinary 
knowledge, have been formed; and if the milk 
corresponds to instruction for little children, the 
lacteal apparatus, which secretes and gives forth 
the milk, must correspond to the love of formu- 
lating and imparting such instruction. The pec- 
toral muscles correspond to the love of sheltering 
and protecting children, because their character- 
istic action enables the arms to encircle children 
in a sheltering and protecting way. 



270 The Mind and the Body 

The rudimentary condition of the breasts in 
the male as compared with the female agrees with 
the fact that the love of children is much greater 
in women than in men. 1 

Swedenborg states that the breasts signify the 
conjunction of marriage love with the love toward 
offspring, that the milk corresponds to truth 
from the good of love, and that to suck the 
breasts is to be instructed in truths. 2 

By mere receptivity to masculine ideas, without 
any attempt to understand them deeply, a woman 
gains a great deal of information in regard to the 
ideas held by the world at large ; and as this is a 
feminine attitude of mind, and as the knowledge 
so acquired is appropriate to the breasts, this 
psychological fact partly explains the relationship 
between the female generative organs and the 
breasts ; for it is the mental function of the womb 
to receive masculine ideas intimately and pro- 
foundly, while it is the function of the breasts to 
receive them outwardly as matters of knowledge. 
A further connection between the breasts and the 
generative system lies in the circumstance that 
the breasts take up the nutrition of the infant at 
the point where the womb leaves off. 

The infant is nourished by milk secreted from 
the mother's blood, but the embryo also is nour- 

• Marriage Love, 393. 

2 Heavenly Arcana, 2015, 6432; Apocalypse Explained, 
7 IO > 73i- 



The Breasts 271 

ished by materials drawn from its mother's 
blood; and while the processes are different, it 
is plain that there is a connection between them, 
and that the nutrition in the womb is an inward 
nutrition, whereas the nutrition from the breasts 
is an outward nutrition. The nourishment of the 
embryo in the womb represents the development 
effected in a newly conceived idea through the ap- 
plication to it of new interior knowledge which is 
in agreement with one's own state of mind; but 
the nourishment of the infant from the breasts 
represents the development brought about in an 
already formulated and expressed idea through the 
application to it of the knowledge of truths cur- 
rent in the outside world, but not necessarily in 
accord with one's inward states of feeling. It is 
evident that there is such a distinction between 
the psychological activities of the womb and those 
of the breasts ; for the womb is more internal in 
situation and function than the breasts, and con- 
ducts its gestatory operations carefully sealed up 
from the outward air, whereas the breasts are epi- 
dermal structures, being originally developed as 
downgrowths from the epidermis into the under- 
lying tissue. 

Before pregnancy the alveoli, or little sacs com- 
posing the lobules of the mammary glands, are 
very small and solid, and are lined by a single 
layer of cells ; but during pregnancy and lactation 
the alveoli enlarge, their cells multiply, and out 



272 The Mind and the Body 

of the materials taken from the blood the milk 
is manufactured for the nutrition of the child. 
This remarkable change represents a correspond- 
ing transformation in a woman's mind ; for before 
conception she had only a passing interest in 
masculine ideas which were not in strict accord 
with her own affection, but after conception her 
interest in these ideas grows and deepens, because 
she sees the possibility of applying them in the 
instruction of her child, in order that while its 
condition is so helpless and ignorant it may be 
taught such knowledge of the outside world as is 
needful safely to adapt it to its new, outward 
surroundings. 

There is spiritual, as well as natural, love of 
children, and this is the love of the well-defined 
ideas which thoughtful affection has conceived 
and developed from wise perception, and also the 
love of nourishing and protecting such ideas. 1 
In the Church, the spiritual love of children is the 
love of sustaining the new doctrines which she has 
conceived and brought forth from the reception 
of the Divine wisdom in her soul; and is it not 
true that the present New Church is thus nourish- 
ing and expanding her new-born doctrines by 
bringing them into intimate relation with the 
thought and life of the times? 

The breasts are frequently mentioned in the 
Bible, where they signify the affection for fresh, 

1 Marriage Love, 127, 211. 



The Breasts 273 

inward truth, and for lovingly accommodating 
such truth to the outward environment of current 
human life and thought. The blessing invoked 
by Jacob upon Joseph, that the Almighty should 
bless him with blessings of the breasts and of the 
womb, 1 signifies that Joseph, or the Lord whom 
he represents, should have the joy of conceiving 
new good and true things from God, of developing 
them by soulful thought and knowledge, and of 
bringing them forth into ripe utterance, and that 
he should have also the further pleasure of en- 
larging the scope and usefulness of such mental 
products by the application to them of his out- 
ward knowledge of the systems of truth prevailing 
among mankind. Isaiah's prophecy of Zion, 
"Thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and 
shalt suck the breast of kings," 2 means that 
the heavenly truths of the New Church will be 
further nourished and developed by the good and 
true things of all the world. The breasts of the 
Lord, which were girt about with a golden girdle, 3 
correspond to His love for His children as ex- 
pressed in the Divine goodness. 4 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the breasts 
are represented by Tripoli. 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the societies of 
the breasts are the angels who deeply love the 
new, innocent goods and truths which have been 

1 Genesis xlix., 25. 3 Revelation i., 13. 

2 lx., 16. * Apocalypse Revealed, 46. 

18 



274 The Mind and the Body 

formulated and expressed by the angels of the 
uterus, and who delight in providing for their 
further growth by bringing them into relation 
with the general thought and life of the heavens. 
The angels of the uterus in their development of 
new truth care only for such knowledge as ac- 
cords with their own inward state; but the 
angels of the breasts love to listen lightly and 
affectionally to the masculine ideas of others, 
even if they are not in complete accord with their 
own states of feeling. By means of the knowledge 
thus acquired, the mammary angels are able to 
give further enlargement and development to the 
new-born ideas of the uterine angels; for they 
apply such knowledge to these new ideas, and 
expand them by bringing out their relation and 
bearing to the ideas of others on all planes of 
thought. These angels also protect and defend 
such fresh, interior ideas from the indifference and 
attack of those who hold contrary opinions. 

As the angels of the uterus have charge over 
those who are with child, so the angels of the 
breasts must have charge over mothers who give 
suck; and no doubt they have the duty of in- 
structing and protecting children who die in 
earliest infancy. They also inspire into women 
and men the love of children, and the affection 
for tenderly instructing and powerfully protecting 
them. 



THE SKIN 

THE skin clothes the whole exterior of the body 
with an elastic, sensitive, protective mem- 
brane, which is continued into the mucous mem- 
brane lining the passages, such as the mouth and 
nostrils, that lead into the body. 

The skin consists of two general layers, — the 
dermis and the epidermis. The dermis consti- 
tutes a more or less unified whole, but the epider- 
mis is composed of three distinct strata, known 
as the stratum mucosum, 1 the stratum lucidum, 
and the stratum corneum. The dermis is the deep 
layer of the skin, and is the part that gives it 
elasticity and sensibility. Projecting from the 
surface of the dermis are numerous finger-like 
elevations called papillae, the majority of which 
contain looped blood-vessels, but some of which 
contain the terminations of nerves. The stratum 
mucosum of the epidermis overlies the dermis, and 
fills in the depressions between its papillae. Like 
the rest of the epidermis, this stratum has no 

* This stratum is here meant to include the stratum 
germinativum, the stratum mucosum, and the stratum 
granulosum. 

275 



276 The Mind and the Body 

blood-vessels, but its texture is softer than the 
other epidermal layers. The next outer layer of 
the epidermis is the stratum lucidum, which is 
made up of flattened cells, forming a uniformly 
clear zone. The outmost layer of the skin is the 
stratum corneum, or horny layer, which consists 
of flat, hard, scale-like cells laid one upon another 
like a sort of armor covering the body. 

Many of the nerves of the skin terminate in 
swellings or discs among the cells of the epidermis ; 
but in places where the sense of touch is very 
delicate, such as the tips of the fingers and the 
point of the tongue, the nerves end in definite 
organs in the papillae of the dermis, which are 
known as tactile corpuscles. There are also other 
special end organs, such as the end bulbs or cor- 
puscles of Krause and the Pacinian corpuscles, in 
which the sensory nerves connected with the skin 
terminate. The end bulbs are found in the lips, 
the conjunctiva of the eyes, the genital organs, and 
elsewhere in mucous membranes, but not in the 
skin proper; and the Pacinian corpuscles are 
attached to nerves supplying the hands and the 
feet, and are present in the mesentery, pancreas, 
lymphatic glands, and other localities. 

Out of the epidermis of the skin are formed the 
nails and the hairs, which serve to protect the 
more living and sensitive surfaces beneath them. 

The sebaceous glands of the skin are small 
glands, the ducts of which usually open upon the 



The Skin 277 

hair sheaths, and exude a fatty secretion that 
lubricates the hair and the skin. The sweat 
glands are coiled glands, the office of which is to 
secrete a watery fluid from the blood, and to pour 
it out as perspiration upon the skin, in order that 
the body may be cooled when its temperature 
becomes too high. 

The functions of the skin are numerous. In 
addition to its capacity for perceiving the various 
sensations of touch proper, it is also the medium 
for feeling the sensations of heat and cold, pressure, 
weight, and similar sensations; and besides the 
excretions through its sebaceous and sweat glands, 
exhalation and absorption are continually taking 
place. Through the skin are exhaled carbonic 
acid, the personal effluvia which affect the sense 
of smell in animals, and the subtle emanations 
which constitute animal magnetism ; while through 
the skin also are absorbed oxygen, watery and 
volatile vapors, the ethereal nutritious elements 
contained in the atmosphere, and the subtle 
emanations given out by others. Swedenborg 
maintains that there are invisibly minute pores 
in the skin, through which the skin imbibes this 
pure atmospheric food, and then transmits it 
through special fibres to the cortical cells of the 
brain for the manufacture of the animal spirits. 1 

The characteristic action of the skin when 

» Animal Kingdom, 502-504, 507-509; Spiritual Diary, 
1738. 



278 The Mind and the Body 

subjected to pleasant or unpleasant sensations 
is finely described by Worcester: 

"The sense of touch gives substance and reality to 
all our sensations, and the sense of the relation of 
objects to us comes through the touch. Therefore it 
is that touch signifies in spiritual language communi- 
cation of affection ; for by touch the sensitive papillae 
are modified in form to agree with the object of con- 
tact, and they either extend themselves with pleasure 
and open their little pores to receive the influence 
presented to them, or they shrink with aversion and 
close their doors. Spheres of life, and of effluvia 
partaking of the quality and activity of the life, are 
both communicated and received through the skin; 
and the touch, including the delicate sense of the 
quality of spheres, guards all the doors. At the ap- 
proach of danger, real or imaginary, it orders the 
doors to be shut, the armor of the skin to be more 
firmly held, and even the little hairs to be erected 
and put forth as feelers. But when agreeable influ- 
ences are felt, the armor is loosened, the advanced 
capillary guards withdrawn and laid down, and the 
doors thrown open wide for sweet interchange of con- 
genial life. Hence the highest use of this sense is 
with two whose lives are one, and Swedenborg says 
that it is dedicated to marriage." ' 

As the general uses of the skin are to provide a 
protective covering for the body interposed be- 
tween its inner mechanism and the outside 

1 Physiological Correspondences, pp. 233-235. 



The Skin 279 

world, and to act as a medium for communicating 
to the mind through tactile sensations informa- 
tion of what is happening in circumambient na- 
ture, it is evident that the skin corresponds to the 
love of coming into direct contact with persons 
and things ; for it is the function of the sense of 
touch belonging to the skin to bring us by sensi- 
tive contact into direct relation with the objects 
of the outside world, and the love of coming into 
personal contact with others protects our inner 
mind like a skin, because it produces an outward 
atmosphere of relationship with others which we 
willingly assume, whereas if we were brought into 
contact with others while in interior states of 
mind and without such willingness of communi- 
cation, we should be painfully irritated by the 
contact. Moreover, such a love or faculty is well 
fitted to perform the uses of the skin, because 
like the skin it constitutes an outward medium 
through which we can come into real communica- 
tion with the objects and persons around us, and 
be directly affected by them; and such love of 
contact and association with others enables us, 
like the skin, to spread our communicative out- 
goings over a wide area, and thus to hold inter- 
course with others on many different subjects, 
and to come in touch with diverse conditions of 
humanity. 

The dermis of the skin corresponds to the love of 
coming in contact with others in an emotional 



280 The Mind and the Body 

way; for the dermis is the most sensitive part of 
the skin, and many blood-vessels containing the 
vital blood course through its structure, and 
answering to these conditions our feelings are the 
most sensitive part of our love of contact with 
others, and the part in which most of our life 
resides. The stratum mucosum corresponds to 
the love of coming into contact with others in a 
thoughtful way, because thought comes next in 
order after emotion, and because thought is less 
sensitive and vital than the feelings. The stratum 
lucidum corresponds to the love of coming in con- 
tact with others in a cognizant way, because 
knowledge follows thought in a progressively out- 
ward series; and the stratum corneum, which is 
closely connected with the stratum lucidum, cor- 
responds to the love of coming in contact with 
others in an expressional way, because expression 
is the most outward of a series, just as the horny 
layer is the most outward layer of the skin. 

As the tactile corpuscles are found in localities 
where the sense of touch is the most delicate, it is 
evident that in them lies the most acute sen- 
sibility of touch. They are doubtless the physical 
means by which the blind are able to read quickly 
the raised letters in a book, and to guide them- 
selves through crowded streets with merely the 
assistance of a cane. 

The Pacinian corpuscles seem to have the 
function of determining how much unpleasant 



The Skin 281 

sensation can be borne without actual pain or 
injury. No doubt the Pacinian corpuscles at- 
tached to the nerves supplying the hands and the 
feet enable us to hold our hands and feet for 
warmth as near a fire as advisable, and to with- 
draw them quickly as soon as the heat becomes 
too intense and likely to cause pain or discomfort. 
These corpuscles probably determine, also, how 
powerful an electric current can be received with 
equanimity from a battery; and they must per- 
form many similar functions. 

The end bulbs or corpuscles of Krause, how- 
ever, seem to have a use entirely different from 
the functions of the above corpuscles. We are 
told that every one is surrounded by a sphere of 
his life consisting of subtle effluvia separated 
from his body, and that these encompassing 
substances excite the atmospheres into their 
activities and produce the perception of a person's 
presence with others. 1 This sphere of actual 
substances is communicated to others by the 
touch, 2 and probably also by near presence ; and it 
must be received first by the skin. But the per- 
ception of the activities produced in the atmos- 
pheres by these emanating substances surely 
requires a more exquisite sense than is possessed 
by the relatively coarse skin, and this delicate sense 
seems to reside in the end bulbs or corpuscles of 

» Divine Love and Wisdom, 291, 293. 
2 Heavenly Arcana, 10, 130. 



282 The Mind and the Body 

Krause, which seem to have the function of sens- 
ing the emotional life of others as revealed by 
such atmospheric activities. The interiority of 
these end bulbs is evidenced by their occurrence 
in the mucous membranes and not in the skin 
proper. 

The perception of the external and the internal 
quality of others is accomplished through the 
faculties represented by the tongue and the nose, 

■ but these are intellectual faculties, and conse- 
quently their operations are largely confined to 
the intellectual side of persons' minds; whereas 
the end bulbs of the skin belong to a more emo- 
tional sense, and seem to have a perception of the 
nature of others based upon the reception of the 
sphere of their emotional life, which is pleasant 
or unpleasant and welcome or unwelcome so far 
as it agrees with the life of the individual receiv- 
ing the sphere. Moreover, the air has its special 

} anatomical organ in the ear, the ether has its 
appropriate organ in the eye, and it is possible 

. that the aura, the atmosphere of spiritual feeling 
and connective force, has its own organ in the end 
bulbs of the skin. We know that the skin re- 

'■ ceives the sensations of heat, which are caused 

, by more interior ether waves than the sensations 
of light, and it may well receive, as the most 
emotional of the senses, the activities of the most 
emotional of the spiritual atmospheres. If this 
is the case, the skin is the seat of the most interior 



The Skin 283 

as well as the most exterior sensations of the 
physical senses. 

Swedenborg compares those who are in truth, 
but not yet in good, to the skin 1 ; for the love of 
coming in contact with others and expressing one's 
ideas to them is not a love of doing anything 
good, but is merely a desire for bringing the in- 
dividual's life into relation to others, and com- 
municating to them his states of thought and 
feeling. 

The nails correspond to the faculty of ascer- 
taining by personal investigation whether a thing 
is so ; for the faculty of personally verifying state- 
ments serves to produce a strong mental certainty 
on the subject, which resembles the hard, strong 
nails. The nails on the hands and feet represent 
respectively the verification of interior and ex- 
terior facts; the nails on the thumbs and great 
toes representing the verification of what is 
learned by careful study, and the nails on the 
fingers and toes representing the verification of 
what is heard or read with attention. 

The fourth beast seen in Daniel's apocalyptic 
vision had nails of bronze, 2 which signify con- 
firmations from the Word that men must lead a 
good life if they wish to share in heavenly hap- 
piness. The removal of false inward and out- 
ward views is signified in the Jewish code by 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 6402, 8977, 8980, 8990. 
a Daniel vii., 19. 



284 The Mind and the Body 

shaving the hair and paring the nails of a female 
captive before marriage. 1 

The hairs correspond to intellectual expressions 
of an individual's thoughts and feelings which 
bring him into relation with others, because the 
hairs are originally developed as downgrowths of 
the mucous stratum of the epidermis, which cor- 
responds to the love of coming in contact with 
others in a thoughtful way. The hair of the head 
corresponds to intellectual expressions of one's 
inner thoughts and feelings, and the hair on the 
face and the rest of the body corresponds to in- 
tellectual expressions of one's outer thoughts and 
feelings. 

The eyebrows correspond to intellectual ex- 
pressions in regard to the objects of sight. They 
differ in meaning from the eyelashes, in that the 
eyelashes are expressions in regard to the outward 
nature of objects, telling who or what they are, 
while the eyebrows are merely expressions as to 
the appearance of objects. 

The whiskers at the sides of the cheeks cor- 
respond to expressions of intellectual good-will, 
and the beard about the chin corresponds to ex- 
pressions of emotional good-will, because the 
cheeks and the muscles of the chin correspond 
to good- will. 2 The mustache on the upper lip 
corresponds to expressions of intellectual recep- 

i Deuteronomy xxi., 12; Heavenly Arcana, 3703. 
2 See above, p. 154. 



The Skin 285 

tivity, and the goatee on the lower lip corresponds 
to expressions of emotional receptivity, because 
the lips correspond to the faculty of receptivity. 1 

As women are wont to express their good-will, 
their receptivity, and many other of their mental 
attitudes more emotionally than men, therefore 
women usually have no beards or mustaches, and 
their bodies are less hairy than men's ; but, on the 
other hand, women greatly excel men in the 
length and beauty of the hair on their heads, for 
women are more given than men to fine, flowing 
expressions of their inner mentality. This differ- 
ence in the distribution of the hair of the two sexes 
may be due in part to the fact that interiorly 
woman is intellectual and exteriorly emotional, 
while man is interiorly emotional and exteriorly 
intellectual 2 ; for the head represents the interior 
part of the mind, and the body the exterior part. 
Women, however, do not give free expression to 
their feelings when conversing about matters of 
sexual love; but, like men, they make use of the 
more modest intellectual expressions in talking 
on these subjects, for both men and women have 
hair about the genital organs. 

Poets and musicians often wear long hair, be- 
cause their art resides largely in the fine ex- 
pression of inner moods. 

Wigs made of false hair correspond to artificial 
modes of expression. The wigs which are the 

» See above, p. 163. 2 Idem, pp. 255, 259, 260. 



286 The Mind and the Body 

professional dress of judges and barristers in 
Great Britain represent their artificial style of 
speech, which is couched largely in a conven- 
tional legal phraseology, and not in their own 
natural language. 

They whose life consists chiefly in giving in- 
tellectual expression to their feelings and opinions 
cannot have a great deal of interiority, and con- 
sequently spirits who have but little spiritual life 
and intelligence are described by Swedenborg as 
seeming abnormally hairy. 1 As hair signifies in- 
tellectual expressions, therefore they who are in 
mere truth or in falsity appear hairy in the other 
world; and as baldness, which is the absence of 
hair on the head, signifies mere emotional ex- 
pression of internal states of mind, which is apt 
to lack intelligent thought and to degenerate into 
stupidity, therefore they who are in mere feeling 
or in evil and devoid of intelligence appear bald. 2 

As the hairs represent the intelligent intel- 
lectual expressions by which the currents of an 
individual's life are brought into relationship 
with others outside of him, and as these expres- 
sions are the ultimate things of his life, therefore 
we are told that the ultimate or literal sense of 
the Word corresponds to the hair 3 ; for the literal 

i Heavenly Arcana, 3301, 5552, 5571. 

2 True Christian Religion, 74; Spiritual Diary, 5812; 
Apocalypse Explained, 724. 

J Apocalypse Revealed, 47; Apocalypse Explained, 918; 
De Verbo, 10. 



The Skin 287 

sense of the Bible contains such outward ex- 
pressions of the Lord's thoughts and feelings as 
bring Him into living relationship with all con- 
ditions of humanity, even the lowest. 

In consequence of this signification of the hair 
as applied to the Word, we are informed that 
spirits who love the literal truths of the Bible 
appear becomingly adorned with hair, whereas 
spirits who have no such love for the ultimate 
things of the Word appear bald. 1 

The sebaceous glands, which are usually at- 
tached to the hairs, correspond to a pleasant and 
suave regard to the thoughts and feelings of others, 
because the function of the sebaceous glands in 
lubricating the hairs with oily secretions is ex- 
actly similar to the smoothness and pleasantness 
imparted to our remarks, when, although ex- 
pressing our own views firmly, we nevertheless 
pay due regard to the feelings and opinions of 
those with whom we are conversing. 

The sweat glands correspond to the faculty of 
keeping cool and not getting wrought up and 
excited in our communications and discussions 
with others, because it is the function of these 
glands to cool the body whenever it becomes 
overheated. 

In the Greatest Man of our earth, the skin is 
represented by the Hawaiian Islands. 

1 Apocalypse Explained, 555; Heavenly Arcana, 5569; 
Doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures, 35. 



288 The Mind and the Body 

In the Greatest Man of heaven, the angels of 
the skin and hair constitute the ultimate societies 
of heaven, which encompass, unite, and protect 
the more internal societies. It is through these 
angels that the influx from the Heavenly Man as 
a whole flows into men on earth, and they must 
therefore be largely instrumental in bringing the 
life of heaven into close relationship with the life 
of the Church in the world. 

The angels of the skin have an exquisite per- 
ception of the inner quality of others as revealed 
by the manner in which their presence affects 
them ; and while they gladly welcome the spheres 
of all good and upright spirits, because they are in 
accord with the life of heaven, they promptly 
shut out all evil and false spheres, and prevent 
them from penetrating into the interior societies. 
Not only do these angels admit or exclude the 
spheres of spirits, but they are also charged with 
the acceptance or rejection of the spirits them- 
selves ; for Swedenborg states that ' ' the societies 
to which the cuticles correspond are in the en- 
trance to heaven, and there is given to them 
perception of the quality of the spirits who ap- 
proach the first threshold, whom they either re- 
ject or admit, so that they may be called entrances 
or doorways to heaven." 1 The "cuticles" here 
seem to include the mucous membranes lining the 
whole alimentary tract, for spirits are taken up 

> Heavenly Arcana, 5553. 



The Skin 289 

into heaven from the provinces of the mouth, the 
stomach, and the intestines. Moreover, the ori- 
fices of the minute ducts of the skin, which absorb 
ethereal aliment for the body, are like invisible 
portals, through which the angels of the skin 
quickly take up the souls of infants and foetuses 
when they die. 1 

The angels of the skin and hair give outward 
expression to the inward life of the entire heavens. 
With those who constitute the skin this ex- 
pression of the indwelling heavenly states is 
emotional in its character, but with those who 
constitute the hair the expression becomes in- 
tellectual. 

As the angels forming the two outward layers 
of the epidermis are wont to express their knowl- 
edge in a purely emotional way, and as such a 
habit may lead in some cases to mere prattling 
without intelligence, therefore it is probably to 
these angels that Swedenborg refers in the 
following passage : 

"There are spirits through whom others speak, and 
who scarcely understand what they say: this they 
have confessed, but still they talk a great deal. They 
become such who in the life of the body have been 
mere prattlers, not thinking at all of what they said, 
and who have loved to talk on all subjects. I have 
been told that they are in companies, and that some 

1 Spiritual Diary, 1022, 1035, and under "Infant," in the 
Index. 
19 



290 The Mind and the Body 

of their companies have reference to the membranes 
which cover the viscera of the body, and some to the 
layers of the skin which are but slightly sensitive; 
for they are only passive forces, and do nothing from 
themselves, but from others." ' 

The angels of the nails perform an important use 
by verifying the statements made by others ; for 
in this way they are able to give certitude to the 
knowledge of the heavenly societies, and to elimi- 
nate many errors arising from carelessness and 
inaccuracy. The inherent characteristic of the 
angels of the nails, who love to ascertain for 
themselves whether or not a thing is as repre- 
sented, is treated of in the following lines, where 
they seem to be grouped with the societies com- 
posing the horny or scaly layer of the skin : 

"It has been granted me to know those who con- 
stitute the scaly skin, which is less sensitive than any 
other of the coverings; for it is covered over with 
scales which are almost like delicate cartilage. The 
societies which constitute it are they who reason con- 
cerning all things whether it is so or not so, nor do 
they go any farther. When I talked with them, it 
was given to perceive that they did not at all com- 
prehend what is true or not true, and they who have 
reasoned most comprehend the least. Still, they 
seem to themselves wiser than others, for they place 
wisdom in the faculty of arguing. They are utterly 
ignorant that the essential thing in wisdom is to 
» Heavenly Arcana, 5557. 



The Skin 291 

perceive without arguing that it is so or is not so. 
Many such are from those who in the world were 
made so by a confusion of good and truth through 
philosophical, who have hence the less common 
sense." ' 

The angels of the hairs are more or less decided 
in their statements of individual views, and when 
these views are quite different from those held by 
others, such firm expression may give offence and 
wound the feelings of others ; but this undesirable 
effect is remedied by the presence and influence 
of the angels of the sebaceous glands, who by 
their pleasant and considerate regard for the 
opinions and feelings of others temper and soften 
the strong assertiveness of the angels of the hairs. 
The angels of the sebaceous glands seem to be 
meant in the following description of the spirits 
who constitute the glands of the skin; for being 
quick to perceive any dissent or resistance in 
others to the views which are being expressed, 
these angels would naturally be disposed to as- 
certain the truth of a thing by observing whether 
there is any inward resistance to its utterance : 

" There are spirits who, when they wish to know any- 
thing, say that it is so, doing this one after-another 
in society, and thus, when they say it, they observe 
whether it flows freely, without any spiritual resist- 
ance; for when it is not so, they generally perceive 
> Heavenly Arcana, 5556. 



292 The Mind and the Body 

a resistance from within ; if they do not perceive re- 
sistance, they think that it is so, and do not know 
it in any other way. Such are they who constitute 
the glands of the skin; but of these there are two 
kinds, one which declares a thing because, as was 
said, it seems to flow freely, from which they conjec- 
ture that, as there is no resistance, the thing is in 
agreement with the heavenly form, consequently with 
the truth, and that hereby it is affirmed; and the 
other which boldly declares that a thing is so, although 
they do not know it." ' 

The peculiarity of the second kind of spirits 
mentioned here, who boldly declare that a thing 
is so even when they do not know it, seems 
characteristic of the action of the little hair 
muscles, the contractions of which make the 
hairs erect and cause the sebaceous glands to dis- 
charge their contents. 

The angels of the sweat glands, who correspond 
to the faculty of not becoming wrought up in our 
communications with others, exert a calming in- 
fluence over the whole heaven ; for by their quiet 
admonitions they restrain undue excitement in 
the discussions of others, and allay the intensity 
of overwrought passions. 

The chapter on the skin concludes the study of 
the correspondences of the human body under- 
taken in this volume; and it should be remarked 
that the correspondences which have been pre- 

» Heavenly Arcana, 5558. 



The Skin 293 

sented in these pages are mainly particular and 
structural correspondences. A number of the 
parts of the body, such as the hands and feet, 
have also general and functional correspondences, 
which are somewhat different; but as most of 
these general correspondences are amply set forth 
in Swedenborg's writings, they have not been 
treated of in the present book. 

The correspondences assigned to the several 
countries of the globe explain many of the 
physical peculiarities of the different nations ; for 
example, the muscularity of the Spaniards is ex- 
plained by the fact that many muscles of the 
thigh and back correspond to the faculty which 
Spain represents, and the large lips and jaws 
characteristic of the people of Senegambia and 
Guinea are easily accounted for when it is con- 
sidered that these geographical areas correspond 
to the lips and jaws. A better understanding of 
some of the mental traits of the various nations 
may also be arrived at through a knowledge of 
their physiological correspondences ; for instance, 
the French are noted for their splenetic temper, 
because France corresponds to the spleen, and 
the inhabitants of German East Africa and 
Egypt are distinguished by their fondness for 
feasts and banquets, because these countries 
correspond to the oesophagus and the stomach. 
But no evidence has been brought forward to 
prove these geographical correspondences, because 



294 The Mind and the Body 

this subject has been fully discussed in the book, 
Psychology of the Nations, where it was shown 
that the different countries of the earth corre- 
spond primarily to the convolutions of the brain ; 
and if the countries correspond to the faculties 
in the brain, they correspond also to the parts of 
the body, for the latter are merely outward ex- 
pressions and manifestations of the former. 

The fact that the several organs and parts of 
the body correspond to the various faculties of 
the mind suggests a rational system of mind cure ; 
for from such a doctrine it becomes evident that 
many of the diseases afflicting humanity are 
nothing but perversions of the mental faculties, 
which ultimate themselves in the body. 1 It is 
true that many illnesses, such as those which arise 
from injury, exposure, and similar conditions, are 
due to purely natural causes and cannot be cured 
by the mind, nor is it likely that a disease repre- 
senting a single perverse action of the mind can 
be cured by mental discipline alone, for the 
disease must go through all the stages repre- 
sentative of the state of the mental perversion 
causing it; but all chronic diseases and all 
diseases that owe their existence to a continued 
state of mental disorder can certainly be cured 
by the removal from the mind of the perverse 

« That the diseases of the body correspond to perversions 
of the mind, see Heavenly Arcana, 5712, 5726, 6502, 8364; 
Deuteronomy xxviii., 15, 22, 27, 35, 60, 61. 



The Skin 295 

mental conditions whereof the diseases are the 
effigies. The following examples may be given 
as illustrations. The disease of goitre, which is 
an enlargement of the thyroid body, corresponds 
to a greatly exaggerated idea of one's own im- 
portance in the world, and it can be cured by re- 
ducing to normal limits such an inflated idea of 
self-importance; and the disease of myxcedema, 
which interferes with the proper functions of the 
thyroid body, and which is relieved by thyroid 
feeding or the administration of thyroid extracts, 
seems to correspond to exactly the opposite 
mental state of believing one's self of no import- 
ance whatever, and this disease can be cured by 
compelling one's self to think that as a member 
and part of the whole he is of at least some con- 
sequence in the world. But for the successful 
practice of such a system of mind cure a full and 
accurate knowledge of the correspondences of 
diseases is requisite, and unfortunately scarcely 
anything is known in this direction. 

The present volume for the first time places the 
correspondences of the human body on an exact 
basis, but it does little more than open the sub- 
ject. There are a large number of faculties, such 
as imagination, fancy, veneration, conscience, 
love to God, love to the neighbor, humor, and 
many others, which still remain unlocated; and 
yet it is probable that every faculty contained in 
the brain has its physical counterpart in some 



296 The Mind and the Body 

tissue of the body. A careful examination of 
every detail of the human anatomy will doubtless 
reveal these missing correspondences, and at the 
same time will shed great light on the physiology 
of the body as well as the psychology of the mind ; 
but the consideration of the anatomical, his- 
tological, and physiological correspondences of 
the human body on so stupendous a scale is left 
to future correspondentialists. 




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